Munster club SHC semi-final: Ballygunner (Waterford) 4-18 Sarsfields (Cork) 2-17
There were certain things Ballygunner knew going into this AIB Munster semi-final against Sarsfields. They had been caught by a fast start from the same opponents in last year’s Munster final and that the concession of goals had ultimately undone them.
On Sunday with the advantage this time of home venue, the perennial Waterford champions got stuck in from the start and, playing with a strong wind, effectively buried the Munster champions, who were lining up without two of last season’s main contributors, Aaron Myers, who is abroad, and Cathal McCarthy, with long-term injury.
To their credit, Sarsfields mounted a spirited comeback either side of half-time, but a 14-point deficit, even as early as the 25th minute, is a hard target to hit. They did reduce it to five, 2-7 to 2-12, four minutes into the second half but Ballygunner’s instant response soon had the numbers spinning back out of control for the Cork side.
If goals had played a significant role in last year’s Munster final, that influence was again felt, but this time they came from the other direction. Dessie Hutchinson had two within 12 minutes, both of which Sarsfields will feel they could have done more to prevent.
RM Block
A long ball in from Kevin Mahony in the ninth minute was batted clear by goalkeeper Ben Graham, under pressure from Patrick Fitzgerald, but only as far as Hutchinson who rifled it into the net. Three minutes later, Fitzgerald again played a part, clipping a lineball in from the right.
Full back Cillian Roche intercepted but lost the ball and Hutchinson was in again, driving home the second goal for a 10-point lead, 2-5 to 0-1.
The pitch at Azzuri Walsh Park was in decent condition considering the weather of recent days and Ballygunner powered over its surface, driven forward by the superlative playmaking of Stephen O’Keeffe in the winners’ goal. His defence coped well with what the Cork champions offered but they frequently looked around for him to launch attacks.
In the first half, none of his deliveries went astray and he intervened with a fine save to deny Barry O’Flynn in the 10th minute. The former All Star was also booked for pulling down the same player for a converted free at the end of the first half.
Two weeks previously, the team had suffered in the absence of their free-taker, the ultra-dependable veteran Pauric Mahony. That loss was obvious to anyone watching as he scored 10 from 11 attempts and didn’t miss any of his dead-ball shots.
Their nerve was tested by a commendable rally at the end of the first and beginning of the second halves. Sarsfields were striking occasional sparks from Daniel Kearney’s use of the ball, Daniel Hogan’s running and the physical imposition of James Sweeney.
They all came together in eight minutes when the margin was cut from 2-11 to 0-3 to 2-12 to 2-7, outscoring their opponents by 2-4 to 0-1. At the start of the second half, Colm McCarthy’s free dropped into the goalmouth and serial failure to clear the ball ended with Hogan’s second goal.
Ballygunner, who had built their first-half supremacy on intense industry in the middle third, didn’t panic but worked a way back and within seconds the margin was out to eight when a slip by the luckless Roche – who was afterwards commended by his manager Johnny Crowley for a season’s consistently effective marking of opposition dangermen – allowed Fitzgerald in and he made no mistake, for 3-12 to 2-7.
Hutchinson should have had a hat-trick minutes later but was blocked out by Graham and Kevin Mahony mitigated the loss by pointing the loose ball. Within two minutes, Mahony had been sent galloping into space and his finish from an angle was thunderous: 4-13 to 2-8 – in five minutes, the fire, such as it was, had been put out in a deluge of scores.
Ballygunner manager Jason Ryan acknowledged that they had targeted a fast start.
“I suppose it’s something we were very conscious of – that in the first five or seven minutes of the Munster final last year, Sarsfields got a really good start ... We know we have a lot of scoring threat in our forwards. If they went man-for-man, which they did for the start of the game, we thought we’d maybe get a few one-on-ones or two-on-twos. As it turned out, that’s what happened.”
He paid tribute to Pauric Mahony: “He’s just so composed. He sees things before other people do and he reads the game so well.”
Acknowledging the club’s eighth successive provincial final, he said: “Yeah, they’re an amazing group of guys.”
Crowley said Sars had “targeted a good, quick start to impose ourselves in the game and it just didn’t go our way and then we found ourselves facing a mountain to climb. But even at that, we got 1-2, 1-3 there just before half-time.
“Give the lads credit. They kept going and they kept soldiering on but I think when we got back at that point, another score or two, you never know. Look, it’s a very hard venue to come to. They’re a fabulous side. You get found out if you make mistakes.”
BALLYGUNNER: S O’Keeffe; A O’Neill, I Kenny, T Foley; H Ruddle, Philip Mahony, R Power; C Sheahan, P Leavey; M Mahony (jt-capt) (0-2), Pauric Mahony (0-10, 9f), P Hogan (jt-capt) (0-1); K Mahony (1-1), D Hutchinson (2-1), P Fitzgerald (1-2, 1f).
Subs: M Hartley (0-1) for Pauric Mahony (49 mins); C Tobin for Sheahan (54); E O’Brien for Power, E Cuddihy for Fitzgerald (both 61); C Power for K Mahony (64).
SARSFIELDS: B Graham (0-1, f); C O’Sullivan (capt) (0-1), C Roche, D English; B Murphy, L Elliott (0-1), C Leahy; D Hogan (2-3, 2f), K Murphy; J O’Connor, D Kearney, C Darcy; J Sweeney (0-4), C McCarthy (0-5, 3f), B O’Flynn (0-2).
Subs: E Murphy for Roche (37 mins); B Nodwell for B Murphy (42); S O’Regan for Kearney (45); L Hackett for K. Murphy (58).
Referee: A Tierney (Tipperary).
Attendance: 2,486.
