With just an hour of hurling separating Ballygunner and a place in GAA folklore, the Waterford club know it’s been an incredible journey to be in sight of the summit.
Darragh Sullivan’s side face Kilkenny’s Ballyhale Shamrocks in this weekend’s All Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship Final, having breezed to an eighth consecutive county title before being crowned Munster champions.
An All-Ireland final is uncharted territory for the Gunners, but the same can’t be said for their opponents, they’ve won nine of them, and they haven’t lost one in 44 years either.
History counts for nothing come the throw-in, though. Goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe is no stranger to Croke Park, having battled upon the hallowed turf many a time in the white and blue of Waterford.
O’Keeffe says being on the cusp of glory is the product of years of graft, in terms of voluntarism and application.
“It’s been the product of many years. There’s been huge work put in. With the underage structures in the club, a lot of parents have got involved, but there’s also been lots of past players - who after they’ve finished playing, they’ve given up their time and come back in and managed, helped out the younger players and that sort of knowledge being passed on is invaluable to the 13, 14, 15 year olds here. I think you’re starting to see the results of that over the past seven or eight years.”
The last 8 years have yielded eight consecutive county crowns and two Munster medals in tandem for O’Keeffe and many of his teammates. This year, the Gunners have arguably impressed more than ever, swatting aside some notable opposition on their way to Saturday’s showpiece event. The former All-Star says it’s simply been a continuation of the principles adopted over the past number of seasons.
“I think it’s just continuation, to be honest. That might not be the most exciting answer but Darragh Sullivan and David Franks are over us now with the last three or four years. That gives us a great level of consistency and continuity. Sometimes, when new management comes in, they bring in fresh ideas of how they want to play and whatever the case may be. Those type of things take time to implement and to get up to the level of what they want. We’ve been lucky that the lads have stuck with us now to continue to keep growing year on year without having to tear it down and start again at any point.”
While the netminder won’t be getting overly worked up at the prospect of lining out for his boyhood club on the biggest stages, he says it would be almost ignorant of the panel not to try and grasp the sense of occasion upon the horizon.
“I think you do your best to keep your circle small, but at the same time - I certainly wouldn’t be ignoring the occasion. It’s fantastic to be at this stage and to totally try and ignore the build-up in the few days, I think it would be a real missed opportunity. Sometimes, you have to take a step back and take stop of where you are, appreciating the journey that you have been on at the same time. I don’t think doing that will effect our performance in any way. Generally, we’re lucky in the sense that we all get on quite well. If you’re hanging around with your mates, going for a coffee or whatever - all of those people do tend to be in the group, so it’s been a natural thing, keeping the circle tight.”
Despite being a sizeable club with an enviable player pool, it is very much a family affair at the heart of Ballygunner’s starting fifteen, with the four Mahony brothers, Stephen and brother Billy O’Keeffe, and the mixes of cousins, uncles and nephews on display. O’Keeffe says it’s an amazing thing to share these opportunities with those who share blood.
“There’s a decent amount of numbers coming into the club and we are very lucky with that at underage level. It’s the culture that’s been put in place that gets the best out of those, and what you are seeing all the time is familiar names coming through in the team. Obviously, you have the four Mahonys [Kevin, Mikey, Pauric & Philip], Tadhg Foley, Shane O’Sullivan - they’re all part of the one family. That’s a huge amount to be coming from one family. Myself, Billy and Darragh are on the panel. It’s a great thing to keep that familial bond within the team. Two years ago, there was a county final where Dessie [Hutchinson] won with the two brothers [Wayne & JJ] and I’m sure it means a hell of a lot to him. Those types of memories are brilliant to have. Those are the things that you look back on in thirty years time. They do mean more to you, and we are very lucky as a club that we’ve managed to keep those close family ties.”
O’Keeffe admits that getting over the line against Slaughtneil in the semi-final almost brought a sense of relief. He believes that getting to the final can serve as a springboard to further successes in East Waterford, regardless of the result this weekend.
“There are a few young players on the team. I think we have about three or four that are still under-20 that are on the starting fifteen. They’re not coming in with any memory of losing past games. They’re coming in quite fresh and they’re setting a standard for themselves at any early point in their careers that we as older lads weren’t setting say ten years ago.”
The Gunners goalkeeper is under no illusions as to the scale of the task which faces his side, with the Kilkenny opponents seeking a third successive title. He says that past experiences like dethroning a swashbuckling Na Piarsaigh on a provincial basis, can stand the Gunners in good stead.
“There aren’t many games that we would look back at over the past few years that would stick in the craw as ones where we were well up and we left behind. We had a huge obstacle to overcome in our first few years winning Waterford - coming up against a Na Piarsaigh team at the height of their powers. One of the best teams to ever come out of Munster, really. When we finally got over the line against them, at the third time of asking, that was a huge moment for ourselves and for the club. It might have meant a little bit more than just winning the Munster title. It was coming up against the adversary that had defeated you twice previously - that does mean that little bit more. In terms of Ballyhale, we played in 2018 in the semi-final. You had about ten minutes to go and there was two goal chances. We didn’t take our one and they took theirs. That was the difference on the day. Coming out of that game, there certainly wasn’t a feeling that we left it behind us or anything - it was more, I can’t wait to get back to this level and try this again.”
Just 24 miles separate the teams geographically. While history can always hold a weight, that won’t concern the Waterford outfit or O'Keeffe himself, as they can only beat what lies in their wake.
“The calibre of players that they have, and their record, it speaks for itself. We’re coming in with our eyes wide open. We know exactly how good they are and what the challenge is, which has its benefits as well. We know the height of the hurdle that we have got to clear. If we’re at our very best, we win the game and anything short of that, we simply won’t. There will be mistakes made on the day by everyone, but in general, we have got to bring our absolute A-game. It’s almost refreshing to know that going in. There’s no room for soft thoughts.”
Having mentioned the need to be at peak level, a look back at the season shows many glimpses of that aforementioned form - a county final blitzing of Roanmore, a battering of Ballyea, and a clattering of Kilmallock for good measure. That standard of performance will be what the club aspire to achieve, but that, and more again.
“That and more. We have to bring our absolute best. If we do, we’ll be in a good place come the final whistle. Anything less, it won’t be good enough. We would take a lot of confidence in how we went about the Munster Final against Kilmallock. Our hurling was really at a high level. Our recent games were played on tighter, soggy pitches - we were able to dig deep and dig those games out with a different kind of style. We take confidence that no matter how the game unfolds, we have the tools to be able to deal with it.”
It’s not just the black and red of Ballygunner that will be cheering on O’Keeffe and his teammates this weekend, with the whole of the Déise willing on the Gunners in a bid to secure the county’s first major senior club crown. There are presumptions and perceptions present that the dominance of Ballygunner can only be a good thing for Waterford hurling, but if anything - it’s raised the bar for the club scene. So much so, O’Keeffe says their greatest scares this season came in their home county.
“I’ve been getting good luck messages from people across the county that aren’t necessarily involved with Ballygunner. We’re very proud of the fact that we’re representing Waterford in an All-Ireland Final. We want to represent the county in the best way that we possibly can. If you look at the games we played this year, our toughest games have come in Waterford. When you look back, two points down against Fourmilewater in a quarter-final, Mount Sion brought us to injury time level and we needed really cool heads to take two points and get over the line there. The game might have gotten away from Roanmore a bit because we got such a fast start, a game can get away from you like that and I’ve certainly been on the end of that as well. The tightest games we’ve had have come in Waterford so far. That only bodes well for the future of Waterford hurling.”
O’Keeffe noted that some clubs in the Déise are already in pre-season preparations as they begin their bid to dethrone a side seeking a ninth title on the spin come Summer 2022. He says the wealth of experience that he and the likes of Barry Coughlan, Pauric & Philip Mahony have gained in a Waterford shirt will help them assert a calming influence on the younger members of the panel this weekend, leading to a hell-for-leather crack at the reigning champions in Croker.
“I think when I was younger going into these types of games, I fed off the energy being given out by the older players within the panel. It is up to us on the day to be a positive and calming influence and that will reverberate around the team. In terms of on the field, it’s going to take 18 or 19 players playing at their very best to get over the line - regardless of what age they are. We know that as well. It’s all hands on deck to get over the hurdle.”
WLR will broadcast the big match live this weekend with coverage thanks to George Corbett Skoda - Kieran O’Connor & Eoin Murphy will provide live commentary.
For all the build-up to the weekend’s big match and all the latest sport in Waterford, click here.
