Ballygunner have landed their sixth Co. Senior hurling Championship title in a row after an impressive 1-24 to 1-17 win over Eastern-rivals De La Salle in Walsh Park this afternoon.
The Gunners were out of the traps early and raced into a 1-6 to 0-1 point lead inside the opening quarter, Dessie Hutchinson with his third goal of the campaign following good team-work from Barry O' Sullivan and Mikey Mahony.
Pauric Mahony was deadly accurate from fress and from play, he had eight by the break, while a well taken goal from Eddie Meaney brought 'Salle back into contention as they trailed by 1-11 to 1-6 at the interval.
The Gracedieu outfit came right back into the game upon the resumption and reduced the deficit to two points with fifteen minutes remaining thanks to fine scores from Eddie Meaney and Cormac McCann.
However the Gunners re-asserted their dominance and fired eight points in a row, with Pauric Mahony (who finished with 0-12), Paddy Leavy, Barry O' Sullivan, Peter Hogan all hitting scores as they eased to a sixth successive title.
Joint-captains Philip Mahony and Conor Power hoisted the brand new News&Star Cup, the Gunners will now face Sixmilebridge in the Munster Quarter-Final on November 3rd.
18th county medal into the household. Unreal to win it with Dessie after his return from the UK. What a day. #driveforseven pic.twitter.com/JD4a4ERiHF
— Wayne Hutchinson (@WayneHutchinso1) October 13, 2019
Gunners boss Darragh O' Sullivan was highly emotional and over-joyed at the final whistle; "It's massive for us, you saw how deep we had to go in that second half, they really dug deep, it's inspiring to all of us".
Darragh says they always expected a strong challenge from De la Salle.
Darragh told WLR Sport it was great to see their new players rwally step up to the plate this season, with Conor Sheahan, Paddy Leavy and Dessie Hutchinson very prominent.
Six in a row @WaterfordGAA SHCs completed by @ballygunnerHc as Philip Mahony and Conor Power collect the new @WaterfordNS Star Cup from Paddy Joe Ryan... pic.twitter.com/rSaSyazUwi
— Waterford Sport (@WaterfordSport) October 13, 2019
