WATERFORD SHC Ballygunner 4-12 Lismore 2-18: PAUL FLYNN pointed an injury-time free yesterday to salvage a draw for Ballygunner after a pulsating county final at Walsh Park.
Flynn’s 1-7 from placed balls – and 1-9 in total – demonstrated how crucial the former Waterford star still is for his club, with Lismore forward Maurice Shanahan, brother of Dan, claiming 0-11 for his side, again all but two of his scores coming from frees.
Lismore – looking for a first title since 1993 – were by far the better team in the opening period, with the Shanahan brothers causing all kinds of problems for the Ballygunner defence. Goals from Stephen O’Keeffe and Padraig Prendergast put Lismore in control before a Flynn penalty before the break brought Ballygunner back into the game – though they still trailed by six at the interval, 1-6 to 2-9.
Gearoid OConnor fired home a goal after the break, before Flynn played Pauric Mahony through for another. And the fourth Ballygunner goal arrived midway through the half when Shane OSullivan fired past Brendan Landers to level the match. It was almost point for point after that in front of a crowd of 7,500.
BALLYGUNNER: S OKeeffe; A Kirwan, W Kiely, Philip Mahony; S Walsh, F Hartley, W Hutchinson; T Power, C Kehoe (0-1); Pauric Mahony (1-0), S OSullivan (1-1), A Moloney; B OSullivan (0-1), P Flynn (1-9 (0-7 from frees, 1-0 from pen), G OConnor (1-0). Sub: S Power for B O'Sullivan (55).
LISMORE: B Landers; E Bennett, J OConnor, S Bennett; D OGorman, S Kearney, P Fennessy; J Prendergast, D Howard (0-1); M Shanahan (0-11, nine frees), S O'Keeffe (1-0), C OGorman (0-1); P Prendergast (1-1), D Shanahan (0-3), D Bennett (0-1). Subs: T O'Brien for OConnor (45), K Power for J Prendergast (52), J Shanahan for O'Gorman (56).
Referee: P Casey(Cappoquin).
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)