Gunner stars put Munster glory first as holidays put on hold

LOYALTY to the club and the cause means that two of Ballygunner’s key players in Sunday’s Munster Hurling Championship showdown with Garryspillane have put a planned holiday to Portugal’s Algarve on hold.

The Gunners’ most celebrated player, prolific scorer Paul Flynn, and goalkeeper Pat Haran were due to fly to Portugal tomorrow having planned the holiday several months ago.

The small matter of a Munster hurling match has cropped up to complicate their plans but both players have had no hesitation in rescheduling their departure to Monday.

Club chairman Pat O’Sullivan has praised the loyalty of Flynn and Haran, describing them as “clubmen in the truest sense of the word.”

O’Sullivan said that when the date clash was confirmed both players didn’t hesitate in deciding that the game against Garryspillane took precedence.

“We didn’t have to engage in persuasion of any kind to get them to delay their departure to Portugal by 48 hours,” he said.

Long-serving team member Paul Foley said all the players are also appreciative of the decision of their two colleagues to stay on until after Sunday’s game.

“We wouldn’t even want to think about taking on Garryspillane without them,” Foley said. “However not everyone would have disrupted their holiday in the way Paul and Pat have, and not for the first time they are proving that they are Ballygunner through and through.”

While Flynn has been an ever-present in the team since he made his debut while still a minor in 1992, this will be a Munster championship first for Haran.

He was understudy to the long serving Ray Whitty for a number of years but grabbed his chance when Whitty retired from the senior panel after last year’s county final defeat by Mount Sion.

Foley said that despite having to concede home advantage, the Gunners will travel to the Gaelic Grounds “quietly confident” of returning home with a decent result. That said, he is in no doubt about the magnitude of the task that confronts them.

“Garryspillane will be fired up after their historic first title win in their own county, and with the Ryans and the ageless Frankie Carroll leading their charge, nothing less than our very best will be good enough,” said the towering Gunners forward.

Foley said the Waterford side’s preparations for the game couldn’t have gone better, and for just about the first time this year, they are completely injury free.

“Paul Flynn has struggled with injury for most of the county championship campaign, and even though he lasted the hour in the final against De La Salle and made a huge contribution to our win, he was still less than 100% in the fitness stakes on the day,” said Foley.

“Now he is in better shape than he has been all year, and if he turns on the style as only he can, then we will be difficult to stop.”

Last involved in the provincial arena in 2001, that campaign ended in triumph for the Gunners when they captured the title for the first time. As many as nine members of that

winning side could feature again on Sunday, with debuts for such emerging stars as goalkeeper Haran, wing back Wayne Hutchinson, midfielder Shane O’Sullivan, and flying corner forwards Tommy Power and Gearoid O’Connor.

The latter quartet, who were magnificent in the county semi-final and final victories over Lismore and De La Salle respectively, are all tipped to win calls up to the county panel from manager Justin McCarthy in 2006.