All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling final: Ballygunner (Waterford) 1-20 Loughrea (Galway) 1-14
The euphoria came dropping slowly. There was no moment when the game was blown apart or Loughrea put down their arms, just a drip, drip of strangling dominance, point by point, insistent and relentless. For Ballygunner, the cycle of setbacks and comebacks had finally come to this.
Their second All-Ireland title, four years after their first, had taken longer than anyone imagined it would. Since the turn of the decade, they have started each season as favourites or second favourites for the All-Ireland and in most of those years they were beaten by the team that would later lift the cup. None of that made them feel any better.
Just one All-Ireland for such a talented group of players raised a query that could only be answered in Croke Park, no matter how many times they fielded the question. Manfully, they carried that burden.
Loughrea pushed them hard in the first half and were still in the fight with 15 minutes to go, but by then their productivity had slowed and maybe their legs had started to flag. The way that Ballygunner mind the ball and move it means that their opponents must hunt and harry and, in the end, the Waterford champions wore them down.
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They were ahead by a point at half-time, 0-12 to 1-8, and perhaps that flattered them a little. Loughrea hit seven wides in the opening half and had two goal attempts saved by the outstanding Stephen O’Keeffe; all told, their shooting efficiency was less than 50 per cent.
“Yeah, there were certain things that jumped at us that in the first half,” said Ballygunner manager Jason Ryan. “Certainly from minute 10 onwards we weren’t as clinical with the ball and we weren’t picking up as many breaks around the middle. I think we improved that [in the second half].
“And we didn’t control the play as much as we should have; there was times we were passing and not really going any place. We played a bit more direct in the second half but also tried to recycle the play faster and try to get Loughrea moving more so it was harder for them to maybe pick up where we were at or track our runs.”
Tiernan Killeen brought the teams level for the sixth and final time five minutes into the second half with a handy free. From the puck-out, though, Ballygunner struck for their goal.
Peter Hogan got his hands on the ball under the Hogan Stand and released Michael Mahony into an ocean of space at the heart of the Loughrea defence. The Ballygunner joint-captain reached goalscoring range without being touched and buried his shot past Gearoid Loughnane.
Conor Sheahan added a point a couple of minutes later to put four between the teams, 1-13 to 1-9, and for the first time in the game Ballygunner had some breathing space.
The first half had been nip and tuck. Ballygunner led 0-4 to 0-2 after seven minutes, though they had butchered a glorious goal chance by then. Hogan burst in from the wing and played a perfect pass that jumped out of Patrick Fitzgerald’s grasp on the edge of the square.
By the end of the first quarter, though, Loughrea had drawn level, 0-5 apiece, and were creating plenty of chances. Vince Morgan had a close-range shot saved by O’Keeffe and Anthony Burns struck another shot down O’Keeffe’s throat.
Their breakthrough finally came four minutes before the break. Ian Hanrahan mugged Michael Mahony in possession inside the Loughrea half, Joe Mooney hit a long delivery towards the Ballygunner square, and Darren Shaughnessy met the ball in the air with an exquisite touch.
That put the Galway champions ahead for the only time in the game and the lead lasted less than a minute. Ballygunner replied with two scores in quick succession, one of them from Kevin Mahony, by far the most influential player in the Ballygunner attack.
Ballygunner’s dominance of the second half grew incrementally. Both teams missed a goal chance just after half-time, but Loughrea’s last chance to turn the game around came 11 minutes from the end when they were trailing by five points.
They moved the ball through the middle of the Ballygunner defence until it reached Vince Morgan. The Loughrea corner forward reached the ball on the bounce and hit it first time, but he couldn’t direct it around the onrushing O’Keeffe and the danger was cleared.
Apart from the saves he made, O’Keeffe’s distribution and game management were superb. Time and again he made himself available for a pass from one of his defenders and dictated the direction of travel. Ballygunner’s assurance on the ball in tight quarters and in their own half eventually drew the sting from Loughrea.
Ballygunner answered the question.
Ballygunner: S O’Keeffe, A O’Neill, I Kenny, T Foley, H Ruddle, Philip Mahony, R Power, C Sheahan (0-2), P Leavey, D Hutchinson (0-1), Pauric Mahony (0-8, 0-6 frees, 0-2 65s), P Hogan (0-1), P Fitzgerald (0-2), K Mahony (0-4), M Mahony (1-1). Subs: M Hartley (0-1) for Fitzgerald 38 mins; C Tobin for Sheahan 56 mins; C Power for K Mahony 60 mins
Loughrea: G Loughnane, P Hoban, J Coen (0-1), K Hanrahan, B Keary, S Morgan, J Mooney, I Hanrahan (0-1), C Killeen, T Killeen (0-6 frees), J Ryan (0-2), A Burns (0-1), D Shaughnessy (1-1), V Morgan (0-1). Subs: A Kelly for Keary 40 mins; G Maher for Mooney 45 mins; S Sweeney for Hoban 51 mins; M McManus for Shaughnessy 55 mins; N Keary (0-1) for C Killeen 55 mins
Referee: Chris Mooney (Dublin).
