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Ballygunner 1-23 Passage 0-09
Ballygunner claimed a seventh consecutive Waterford Senior Hurling title, their 19th overall, under easy circumstances at Walsh Park, comfortably beating their Passage neighbors, the last team to defeat them at this championship in 2013.
At the interval, the Gunners led 1-12 to 0-5, limiting Passage to just one game point.
Pauric Mahony opened the scoring in 62 seconds after a good pass from Dessie Hutchinson. Hutchinson was the next to score three minutes later before dominant midfielder Conor Sheahan opened his account in the sixth minute.
Peter Hogan, shining through the first half, repeated that feat less than a minute later before Mahony’s first free practice of the afternoon sent Ballygunner five points clear after nine minutes.
Passage opened their account via a free Mikey Cummins in the 11th minute and during too short a window, the challengers rallied on points from Gary Cullinane and another free Cummins to fall behind by two after 14 minutes. But Kevin Mahony signaled from the Gunners’ next attack, followed by more points from Pauric Mahony, Peter Hogan and Mahony again to leave the starters six ahead after the 22nd.
Any hope of meaningful competition was put to the graze in the 23rd minute after Kevin Mahony, played by brother Mikey, shot the ball low to Eddy Lynch’s left to leave Ballygunner 12 points for the good guys. Pauric Mahony scored another double in the 26th and 27th minutes before Mikey Cummins converted his third free kick a minute later (0-4 to 1-11).
Peter Hogan and Pauric Mahony (free) completed Ballygunner’s first half by scoring on either side of a Cummins free quarter, but by halftime it was a case of how much Darragh O’Sullivan’s team would win.
While Passage never threw in the towel, the gulf between the sides was undeniable. During the second half, Ballygunner kept the score going, adding 11 points to his tally, while the challengers would end the afternoon with just two game points.
Substitutes Barry O’Sullivan and Conor Power also entered their names on the roster, while Kevin Mahony, Peter Hogan and Dessie Hutchinson finished the hour with four touchdowns each.
“I think we are raising the bar every year that we go out to other teams to get to that level,” said Ballygunner manager Darragh O’Sullivan as his players celebrated another title.
The Gunners are now 38 games undefeated on the Waterford honor roll. It would be a brave soul to suggest that someone will deny them an eighth title in a row in 2021.
Ballygunner: S O’Keeffe; I Kenny, B Coughlin, T Foley; B O’Keeffe, Philip Mahony, S O’Sullivan; C Sheahan (0-02), P Leavey; D Hutchinson (0-04), Pauric Mahony (0-08; 0-05f), M Mahony; Tim O’Sullivan, K Mahony (1-03), P Hogan (0-04).
Subs used: Barry O’Sullivan (0-01) for Mikey Mahony (49), Conor Power (0-01) for Tim O’Sullivan (50), Eddie Hayden for Billy O’Keeffe (55), JJ Hutchinson for Peter Hogan (57) and Darragh O’Keeffe by Conor Sheahan (60).
He passed: Eddy Lynch; Callum O’Neill, Darragh Lynch, David Jones; Adam Roche, Noel Connors, Ciaran O’Neill; Gary Cullinane (0-01), Killian Fitzgerald; Stephen Lynch, Owen Connors (0-02f), Paddy Flynn; Jason Roche, Liam Flynn (0-01), Mikey Cummins (0-05f).
Subs used: J Whitty for A Roche and T Connors for S Lynch (both HT); E Reilly for P Flynn and J Burke for G Cullinane (both 50) and Mike Hutchinson for Ciaran O’Neill (59)
Referee: Thomas Walsh (Modeligo)
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