Old heads steal show for Mount Sion

Waterford SHC Final/ Mount Sion 2-13 Ballygunner 0-12: Everything about Mount Sion playing Ballygunner typifies the difference between playing for club and county. Not so much about pride as prejudice, both teams believe they're better than the other, that it's their year and that rivalry is central to their hurling history.

That intro, by the way, is a rough rewrite of two years ago, when the clubs last met in the Waterford hurling final. For the 2006 edition that rivalry has simply intensified. Together these clubs have established and maintained a winning tradition for much of the past 40 years although the latest face-off ended with the balance of power shift decisively back to Mount Sion's side of Waterford city.

Ballygunner, who last year regained the title after Mount Sion's three in-a-row, rode their luck to get to this year's final, and they never got close to winning here.Yet it would be no walkover. Between them these clubs had captured all 12 county titles since 1994 - evenly split at six each - and Ballygunner weren't about to let their rivals walk away with it. However, there was just no stopping Mount Sion from extending their more impressive overall total of county titles to 35.

A fantastic autumn afternoon in Dungarvan didn't spill over into the hurling. Newly reappointed Waterford manager Justin McCarthy was among the spectators and will hardly have gone searching for new phone numbers afterwards.

It was the old heads that stole the show. Ken McGrath set up Seán Ryan for Mount Sion's opening goal after three minutes, and Eoin Kelly did likewise for Michael White after six. That advantage more or less held until the end, although Ballygunner raised some air of excitement when reducing it to three points at half-time. That, however, was as close as they got, and the goal Ballygunner desperately craved never looked like developing - despite the introduction of the injury-restricted Paul Flynn. He secured two late points but just couldn't direct the ball under the bar.

Having pulled 2-4 to 0-2 clear after 20 minutes they suddenly dozed off and allowed Ballygunner to hit five unanswered points - three from the impressive Barry Mullane, and two fine frees from Shane O'Sullivan - to leave it 2-4 to 0-7 at half-time.

As they headed for their sports drinks Ballygunner looked a little surprised themselves at how close they still were. Mount Sion's class, however, allowed them to regain their momentum and hold out. Team captain Eoin McGrath sent over two superb second-half points to restore the healthy advantage and ended up man of the match. Older brother Ken McGarth was typically industrious, and the McGrath contribution was complete with Roy holding the fort at midfield and youngest brother Pat joining in for the closing minutes.

Eoin Kelly started well and hit one classic score but faded towards the end, while White showed flashes of his old form at corner forward. Their defence was consistently good. Tony Browne was playing in his 13th county final (including replays) since his first appearance in 1991 and was fully deserving of his seventh winner's medal, while John Cleer and Brian Flannery also ensured the Ballygunner goal hunt remained fruitless.

Andy Moloney, formerly of Tipperary, was one of the few threats for Ballygunner, though Barry Mullane (no relation to the other Mullane) was surprisingly replaced after 47 minutes. As the clock ticked out there was just too little in the way of goalmouth action to suggest a late Ballygunner fight back, and instead it all ended quite tamely.

Ten minutes into the second half their rivalry turned a little heated but the flashing of several yellow cards cooled things down. Flynn's inevitable introduction raised interest again after Mount Sion had pushed 2-6 to 0-7 clear early in the second half, but his fellow forwards just weren't up to much - with defender Johnny Kearney stepping up for one of their five second-half points.

Mount Sion now go on to meet the winners of the Kerry-Tipperary Munster quarter-final, intent on making amends for 2004 when they lost the final by a point to Toomevara, and the year before when they were stunned by Dunloy of Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final.

MOUNT SION: I O'Regan; B Flannery, A Kirwan, K Flynn; J Cleer, T Browne, C Ryan; K Stafford, R McGrath; E McGrath (capt) (0-3), K McGrath (0-7, four frees), F O'Shea; M White (1-2), S Ryan (1-0), E Kelly (0-1). Subs: R Murphy for E Kelly (53 mins), M Gaffney for O'Shea (60 mins), I Power for M White, P McGrath for Ryan (both 62 mins), J O'Meara for Cleer (63 mins).

BALLYGUNNER: P Haron; A Kirwan, W Hutchinson, R O'Sullivan; N O'Connor, F Hartley, J Kearney (0-1); C Kehoe, A Moloney (0-2); T Power, S O'Sullivan (0-3, two frees, '65), B Mullane (0-3); B O'Sullivan, D O'Sullivan, G O'Connor (0-1). Subs: N O'Donnell for N O'Connor (12 mins), P Flynn (0-2) for D O'Sullivan, S Walsh for B O'Sullivan (both 33 minutes), B O'Keeffe for Mullane (47 mins).

Referee: T O'Sullivan (Cappoquin/Affane).