Munster Club SHC: Ballygunner (Waterford) 2-20 Sarsfields (Cork) 0-9
As soon as Ballyhale Shamrocks surrendered their crown in Kilkenny last week Ballygunner were installed as favourites for the All-Ireland, and there was nothing here to test that assertion. For all the romance we attach to county championships, the provincial scene is littered with predictable outcomes these days and the Waterford champions have become bullish leaders of that trend.
Sars have endured a traumatic few weeks since the destruction of their club grounds in Storm Babet, but their manager Johnny Crowley was making no excuses. The record of Cork clubs in the provincial championship has been alarming since Newtownshandrum were the last team to win it 14 years ago. No Cork club has even won a game since Glen Rovers in 2016, and that miserable sequence was never under threat here.
In the new split season the Waterford championship is one of the earliest to be completed, but there were no trace of sluggishness in Ballygunner after their eight week lay-off. Their manager Darragh O’Sullivan said they carried a couple of “knocks” into the game, without identifying the walking wounded. “I don’t know. Sure have a look around,” he said. We couldn’t tell.
All that was visible to the naked eye was Ballygunner’s overwhelming power and control. For the third year in a row they have won their opening game in the Munster championship by at least 17 points, and to rack up such a formidable score on a windy day, with torrential downpours, was hugely impressive.
“We brought a lot of intensity to the first quarter,” O’Sullivan said. “It dropped a bit in the second quarter, but look, you have to be happy. The lads were very fresh coming into it. People go on about the eight-week break but it might freshen us up. We’ve worked it well over the last few years.”
It was chastening experience for the Cork champions. Against the wind in the first half Sars were faithful to their approach of building carefully from the back, but when they launched deliveries from between the two 65s not enough possession was recovered inside. And when they tried to release runners with swift passing in the middle third they encountered more resistance and forceful hits than they would have done at any time in the Cork championship.
Ballygunner are a team for all seasons. There was a lovely covering of grass in Walsh Park, but it was a like a marshmallow just below the surface, and as soon as the rain came in the second half the pitch started to cut up and play hell with everyone’s footing. It made no odds to Ballygunner.
They blitzed Sars from the start. Peter Hogan’s goal after 14 minutes put them 1-4 to 0-1 in front and they were eight points clear just four minutes later. With the wind behind him Stephen O’Keeffe was landing his puck-outs on the Sars D and the Cork champions were rattled by Ballygunner’s directness and their appetite for the second ball.
Dessie Hutchinson and the sorcerer’s apprentice, Patrick Fitzgerald, shared nine points between them, and Hutchinson played the scoring pass for both goals too. Sars never got to grips with either of them.
Aaron Myers was the only Sars player who posed a consistent threat, but all over the field the Cork champions were out-manoeuvred and out-muscled. Even in challenging conditions Ballygunner move the ball with terrific efficiency and trust. In so many ways, Sars were schooled.
Ballygunner led by 1-12 to 0-6 at the break and despite the notional advantage of the wind in the second half, Sars could muster just three points for the rest of the game. Nine minutes after the break, when a goal might have inflamed the fantasy of a comeback, a good Sars move ended in a tame shot, easily handled by Stephen O’Keeffe.
It was the only time they made a real incision. Philip Mahony marshalled the Ballygunner defence as their spare man, and when Sars went long with a few puckouts, the ball was mopped up by a massed Ballygunner defence.
Bigger challenges lay ahead: Na Piarsaigh next, in a fortnight.
“It was serious [when the teams met last year],” said O’Sullivan. “The first half they put us to the sword. We dug in and put them to the sword in the second half. It’s going to be two juggernauts coming against each other. It’s something to be excited about.”
Mercy.
Ballygunner: S O’Keeffe; I Kenny, B Coughlan, T Foley; S O’Sullivan, Philip O’Mahony, R Power; C Sheahan (0-1), P Leavey; P Hogan, Pauric Mahony (0-7, six frees), M Mahony (0-1); P Fitzgerald (0-5), D Hutchinson (0-4), K Mahony (1-1). Subs: H Ruddle for Philip Mahony (55 mins), B O’Keeffe (0-1) for P Leavey (55), P Power for Pauric Mahony (56), S Harney for Kenny (56), A O’Neill for Fitzgerald (58).
Sarsfields: D McCarthy; P Leopold, C Leahy, Cathal McCarthy (0-1); L Elliott, E Murphy, B Murphy; C O’Sullivan, D Kearney; J O’Connor, L Hackett, A Myers (0-6, three frees, one 65); Colm McCarthy, C Darcy (0-1), D Hogan (0-1). Subs: B Nodwell for Hackett (half-time), L Healy for Leopold (38 mins) J Sweeney for Colm McCarthy (40), S O’Regan for Kearney (45), D Long for Hogan (56).
Referee: Conor Doyle (Tipperary).
