Ballygunner have cemented their place among hurling\u2019s modern greats after claiming a second All-Ireland Club title, overcoming Galway champions Loughrea 1-20 to 1-14 in a compelling decider at Croke Park.<\/p>\n
In a contest that swung on key moments rather than long spells of dominance, it was Mikey Mahony\u2019s early second-half goal that proved decisive, giving the Waterford champions the breathing room they needed to push on. Kevin Mahony\u2019s four points from play underlined Ballygunner\u2019s attacking threat, while Stephen O\u2019Keeffe produced a commanding display in goal to earn Man of the Match honours.<\/p>\n
Loughrea had threatened to seize momentum before the break thanks to a brilliantly improvised goal from Darren O\u2019Shaughnessy, flicked beyond O\u2019Keeffe to level the game before half-time. But Ballygunner\u2019s composure, physicality and experience told after the restart, as Jason Ryan\u2019s side slowly asserted control.<\/p>\n
The victory marks Ballygunner\u2019s second All-Ireland title, adding to their dramatic triumph in 2022, and further strengthens their claim as one of the standout club sides of the modern era.<\/p>\n
\u2018I Don\u2019t Know Where That Came From\u2019 \u2013 Waterford Legend Dismisses Ballygunner Narrative After All-Ireland Glory<\/p>\n
Yet despite their pedigree, goalkeeper Stephen O\u2019Keeffe was quick to play down any suggestion that Ballygunner arrived in Croke Park as clear favourites.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the final, Stephen O\u2019Keeffe admitted he was puzzled by the narrative that had developed in the build-up.<\/p>\n
As regards the favourites tag, I don\u2019t know where these things come from because we\u2019d never played Loughrea before. They\u2019d never played us, so I\u2019m not sure how you could put a favourites tag on any team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The former Waterford goalkeeper felt the contest was finely balanced for long spells, particularly in the opening half.<\/p>\n
I thought it was tit for tat in the first half. In fairness, they got a fantastic goal and suddenly we\u2019re going in level when maybe you feel we could be a point or two up.<\/p>\n
Their keeper was brilliant, especially with his puck-outs, and we were struggling to get a handle on that.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Keeffe felt Ballygunner\u2019s composure and work rate after the interval ultimately proved decisive.<\/p>\n
In the second half we got back to what we do best. We started working the ball better, supporting each other better, and the full-forward line made the ball stick when we had to go long.<\/p>\n
I think that was the difference.<\/p>\n
Mahony\u2019s goal shortly after the restart shifted the momentum, and while Ballygunner edged clear, O\u2019Keeffe admitted there was little room for comfort until late on.<\/p>\n
Maybe when it went out to six points you could start to enjoy being in Croke Park a bit, but up until then, no. They\u2019re too good a team for that. Every time they got a run on us, they looked dangerous.<\/p>\n
While comparisons with the great club sides of the past are inevitable, the Ballygunner captain was keen to keep the focus on the present group.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s nothing to do with us. We just love playing together.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been an absolutely fantastic year, and it\u2019s a privilege to play with these people.<\/p>\n
With a second All-Ireland now secured, Ballygunner\u2019s place among the elite of club hurling is no longer up for debate, even if their goalkeeper remains unconvinced by any talk of favourites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ballygunner have cemented their place among hurling\u2019s modern greats after claiming a second All-Ireland Club title, overcoming Galway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[126240,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-252245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-ballygunner","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}