Ballygunner A maintained their unbeaten run in the 2026 JJ Kavanagh & Sons Waterford Senior Hurling Championship after overcoming a spirited Abbeyside-Ballinacourty challenge in Group A and also made it 69 games unbeaten in Waterford.

The reigning All-Ireland club champions came out on top by 0-22 to 0-18 in a closely-contested game, but Abbeyside pushed Ballygunner all the way despite playing much of the game with 14 men.

Abbeyside’s Eoin Kiely was outstanding, finishing with 12 points, while Seán O’Callaghan impressed in midfield. Charlie Treen and Conor Prunty also produced strong performances and showed the quality that saw them represent Waterford at inter-county level.

Abbeyside had a major opportunity to find the net when Eoin Kiely was denied by a save from Ballygunner goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe. They also pushed for a late goal, with Kiely again trying to break through the Ballygunner defence, but the reigning champions held firm.

Abbeyside were reduced to 14 players after Willie Beresford received a straight red card after 20 minutes for an off-the-ball incident.

There was also positive news for Ballygunner and Waterford supporters as Patrick Fitzgerald returned to action, getting 40 minutes under his belt after missing Waterford’s inter-county season in the Munster Championship.

Dessie Hutchinson and Conor Sheehan both contributed three points, with Tadhg Foley adding two and Kevin Mahony also registering three.

Mark Hartley once again impressed for Ballygunner as they did enough to secure another important victory.

The result means Ballygunner A have now gone 69 games unbeaten in the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship.

All Teams now have a week’s break before their next fixtures, allowing the players to recover after physically demanding championship encounters.

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