Ballygunner and De La Salle Clash in County Final for the Fourth Time

Last April when this year’s County Senior Hurling Championship got underway we did so with 12 teams taking part, a number that is not down to two and by tea time on Sunday evening barring the need for a replay, we will know who will represent the county in this year’s Munster Club Championship.

To see Ballygunner who are looking to win a sixth final in a row take on De La Salle is hardly a surprise to most. It is the final that most said would happen all year that is of course if they managed to stay apart in the semi final draw which we now know they did.

The two sides will be contesting the final for the fourth time, and as things stand Ballygunner lead 2 wins to 1, so it will be interesting to see if the Gracedieu side can draw level on head to head wins between the two or will Ballygunner open a gap between the two sides further.

Ballygunner go into this game as the favourites according to most. After all they are undefeated in Championship hurling since they lost the 2013 final to neighbours Passage on a 3-16 to 3-13 score line. De La Salle for their part in this Millennium have won three finals, the last coming back in 2012 when they took the News and Star Cup home out of Fraher Field, beating Dungarvan in the decider.

Both sides have proven to be very consistent throughout the year.

Ballygunner in their five games to reach this year’s final have used 22 players, four of which started every game played to now and of which three played every minute of the five games. They have had 13 different scorers with Pauric Mahony their top scorer with 57 points, 36 of which came from placed balls.

De La Salle have used two players fewer than Ballygunner up to this stage of the competition, 11 of which started all five games played to now and eight of these players have played every minute. They have more scorers up to now than Ballygunner, 15 in total and have Jack Fagan as top scorer hitting 2-38 for his side of which 25 points have come from placed balls.

Ballygunner are unquestionably the best side in the county in the last number of years. If there is a disappointment for Ballygunner in this time it has to be that they have won just the one Munster Title in the past five years.

They are the reigning champions in Munster as well as in Waterford and won’t want to give up both titles this weekend and will look to become the second Waterford Hurling Club to win an All-Ireland Final, and the first at this level at Croke Park on Saint Patrick’s Day. But there will be no such talk about the latter two competitions in the coming days. The focus will be on the retention of the Waterford Championship which would give them the right to fight for the other two titles they so desperately crave for.

But standing in their way this weekend is possibly the second best side in the county at this level over the past decade or so. Only Ballygunner have contested and won more finals than the Gracedieu based outfit in the last 11 years. They have won three titles, no other club has won that number in the past 11 years and they have contested one other final that a 2-18 to 0-16 loss to Ballygunner two years ago, a defeat which they will be seeking revenge for this weekend.

Ballygunner booked their place in this weekend’s final with an easy win over Dungarvan at Fraher Field recently in the first of this year’s semi finals. The writing was on the wall for Dungarvan early in that game as they trailed by double scores after 10 minutes, even if only six scores were registered in this time.  But in the next six minutes of that game the champions hit 1-5 without response the goal coming Peter Hogan after he was played in by Tim O’Sullivan.

At the break that day Dungarvan had one leg in this weekend’s final as they turned around holding a 1-14 to 0-6 lead and it was another of the younger Ballygunner players that notched their second goal Michael Mahony a younger brother of Philip and Pauric just short of the half way point in the second half.

The second game later that same evening in Walsh Park proved to be a much more entertaining game where De La Salle booked their place in Sunday’s final finishing strong at the expense of fellow city side Mount Sion who looked as if they could win a place in the County Final since they lost out to Ballygunner back in 2014.

A goal in the first minute of that game from Thomas Douglas was not good enough to give them the lead with ten minutes played as they trailed 0-7 to 1-2 as Evan McGrath, Michael Gaffney, Jack Meaney, Stephen Roche and Austin Gleeson split the De La Salle uprights as it looked that a shock could be on the cards. But De La Salle would have the better of the exchanges in the remaining time in the opening half and turned around locked at 1-11 each at the break.

The game dropped in its intensity in the second half but Mount Sion were shading it and just short of the midway point of the second half they held a 1-15 to 1-13 lead. A moment of brilliance by Kevin Moran after Jack Fagan had made it a one point game was the turning point as it was followed by two scores on the run by another of their experienced players Dean Twomey had De La Salle two in front going into the final 10 minutes. And in the final ten minutes they continued to be the better of the two sides and ran out deserved winners with four points to spare.

It might be only two year’s since these two sides contested a County Final against each other but in that time both sides have performed surgery on their sides. It is hard to see either side making too many if any chances to the fifteen they started in their respective semi final wins, but there could be some positional changes.

For Ballygunner nine of the side which started two years ago could well be starting for them this weekend. Stephen O’Keeffe will be between the posts while the defence of Ian Kenny, Eddie Hayden, Barry Coughlan, Shane O’Sullivan, Philip Mahony and Billy O’Keeffe will be hard to break down. While in the middle of the field it was Conor Sheahan and Paddy Leavy last day out and they will be looking to link up again this coming weekend.

When it comes winning it is often the forwards get the credit and whether it is right or wrong that forwards that get or make the scores that win games get all or most of the praise, Ballygunner have plenty of options.

Pauric Mahony is expected to once more be the central forward ad could have Barry O’Sullivan and Michael Mahony on either side of him, there is goals in their inside forward line which could well consist of Tim O’Sullivan and Dessie Hutchinson either side of Peter Hogan.

And if needed Ballygunner have options which they can bring in off the bench in the likes of Barry Power, Tadhg Foley, Tom Gallagher, Conor Power, Cormac Power as well as Wayne and JJ Hutchinson amongst others.

De La Salle could start with a slightly higher number that played the final two years ago than what Ballygunner which might give them a little advantage going into this game.

Shaun O’Brien is one of the best goalkeepers in the county. The only reason we have not seen him play for the county is because of Stephen O’Keeffe and Ian O’Regan two other terrific goalkeepers that would walk onto most inter county sides.

Conor Giles Doran and Michael Doherty will be in the full back line. It remains to be seen if Shane McNulty will drop back to try and curb the threat that the Ballygunner Full forward line pose or if they will go with Ryan Duke as they did against Mount Sion, while Tom and Kevin Moran should be in the half back line. Who plays beside them rests on where Shane McNulty is played.

In the middle of the field Eddie Barrett and Adam Farrell should get the nod to continue while Dean Twomey could be another option here.

Eddie Meaney, Thomas Douglas and Cormac McCann were all introduced as late subs two years ago but all three would be expected to start this time around and form the inside forward line for De La Salle, which leaves the half forward line. Here the three places could be fought out between Paidi Nevin, Jake Dillon and Jack Fagan the three that started in the win over Mount Sion recently while Shane Ryan who came on five minutes into the second half that day will also be in contention.

De La Salle has one of the biggest panels playing senior hurling this year and has plenty of options off the bench if needed. Players like Mikey Costigan, Lee Wall, Luke Flynn, Kenneth Byrne, Patrick Kennedy etc could all come in and do a job if needed for Bryan Phelan’s side.

Only one side will leave Walsh Park on Sunday evening with the News and Star Cup that is if they don’t have to return and do it all over again before we find out who will represent Waterford in the Munster Club Championship. This could well prove to be one of the closest finals in recent years. Ballygunner will be fired up complete the mix for six, but De La Salle will be just as fired up to knock their opponents of their perch. Don’t write off the need for a replay at this point, but something tells me that this is Ballygunner’s to lose.