Stradbally aiming to rewrite history books

DESPITE the low ebb of Waterford's football fortunes over the years, the level of interest in Sunday's senior final - a repeat of last year's drawn and replayed decider between Stradbally and the Nire - has generated huge interest.

Stradbally go in as champions, but that's not the whole story. Far from it, and should they manage to hold off what is certain to be a vibrant Nire challenge and retain their crown then they will have repeated the glorious exploits of another great Stradbally team of the 1940s who won five championships on the trot.

Only Dungarvan and Clashmore in the more distant past have managed a similar feat and now Stradbally, so unlucky to be beaten by Kilmurray/Ibrickane of Clare in a Munster final replay 11 months ago, stand on the threshold of a similar achievement.

Vice-chairman Tom Foley, one of the club's playing legends, believes they can pull it off, but sounds a note of warning.

"We haven't set the scene alight on our way to Sunday's final and twice we diced with defeat along the way," said Foley.

"We got out of jail against Gaultier in the semi-final and unless we improve on that performance then the five-in-a-row will be gone."

Foley can recall those five successive championship wins between 1940 and 1944 and the euphoria they set off throughout the sprawling parish.

"I was only a young boy then, but I will never forget the scenes of celebration, especially after that record equalling fifth win in 1944," he recalls.

He rates the present side among the best the club has produced and, possibly, in time, may even prove the best ever.

"Sunday will tell a tale,"says Foley. "And if they beat the Nire then there will be that huge incentive to go on and do what no club in the Decies has ever done - win six senior football championships in succession."

Before any of that can be contemplated, however, there's the matter of seeing off the Nire on Sunday.

Tom Foley said the Nire have been very impressive on their way to the final and the ease with which they dismissed most of the opposition suggests that they are a much more formidable outfit than that of a year ago.

The expectation is that Sunday's game will set a new attendance record for a football final in the county, with the meeting of Ballinacourty and De La Salle in the minor final an appetising curtain raiser.

De La Salle are seeking to complete the minor championship double, having already defeated Ballinacourty's sister club Abbeyside, in the hurling decider.