And it was a momentous day for the club and county at large, according to manager Ryan.<\/p>\n
“Massive day, special day, really proud to be involved with a Waterford team coming to Croke Park, winning an All-Ireland and for the Ballygunner community and Ballygunner players to have won an All-Ireland today is just really, really special,” he said RT\u00c9’s Sunday Sport.<\/p>\n
“They’re such a talented group. There’s so much competition in the group that we felt coming into this game that if we got a little bit of luck and if we were able to follow the game-plan and everybody followed their jobs and we kept players fit that we’d have a really good chance of winning the game.<\/p>\n
“So from the get-go, while in the first half things didn’t go exactly the way we wanted, we were still going in at half-time winning the game and thankfully in the second half the players really pushed on.”<\/p>\n
Former Kildare and Wexford senior football manager Ryan emphasised his connection to the club, explaining that he lives a few short miles away, his son Joss plays for Ballygunner, while both of his children went to primary school locally.<\/p>\n
In light of that, he added that he felt privileged to be involved on such an occasion for the club.<\/p>\n
“How lucky am I to be here on All-Ireland final day. I was somebody that was coming here as a spectator when I was younger and watching Club All-Ireland finals on St Patrick’s Day,” he said.<\/p>\n
“To be here now, the privilege of being involved with a group that win the All-Ireland, the best club team in Ireland – over 2,000 club teams in Ireland – and Ballygunner are top of the tree in hurling there for 2025, so we’re just absolutely delighted with that.”<\/p>\n
![\"Loughrea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0023c220-614.jpg\"\/)
\nLoughrea manager Tommy Kelly<\/p>\n
Loughrea manager Tommy Kelly felt his own side’s shot efficiency let them down in contrast to a “clinical” Ballygunner. But he had no complaints about their application and vowed that they would set about trying to bridge the gap to Sunday’s winners.<\/p>\n
“Every final that you play, it’s really hard to take if you lose it,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We came up here and we were brave against what is obviously the best team in Ireland now at the moment.<\/p>\n
“(Ballygunner) have proven that and they have the bar set very high and we have to get up to it.<\/p>\n
“That’s our next mission. We’ll try very hard to do that but it’s a very, very high bar.”<\/p>\n
Kelly added: “We always knew they were a fantastic club. Everybody in Ireland, any hurling man that’s here talking, if you’re talking about great hurling clubs even before today, (Ballygunner) didn’t have to win that second All-Ireland to become a great team.<\/p>\n
“They are a great team anyway and our lads aren’t so bad either. We might have lost today, we might be a little bit disappointed with how we performed – would’ve liked to have performed better – but we didn’t.<\/p>\n
“You get your day to do that and we didn’t do it on the day. You get your chance (and) you either take it or you’re not.”<\/p>\n