Hutchinson says Gunners motivated by pain of last year’s final loss to DLS

THEIR defeat to De La Salle in last year’s Waterford SHC final is still a powerful motivational tool for 2011 champions Ballygunner, according to defender Wayne Hutchinson.

Hutchinson and company righted the wrongs of 2010 by collecting senior honours last month and took the first steps on the road to matching De La Salle’s Munster success with victory over Drom & Inch on Sunday.

Tall, strong, athletic, alongside Phillip Mahony and Shane Walsh, Hutchinson formed a near-impregnable half-back line in Semple Stadium. The Drom & Inch defence must have felt as if they were playing handball as ball after ball was returned back down the field, setting the platform for the win.

But Hutchinson revealed last year’s exit continues to drive them — along with the desire to collect All-Ireland honours.

He explained: “We were beaten in the Waterford final last year by De La Salle and that hurt us big-time.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice. We then saw what De La Salle did in Munster, winning the championship again, and we were sitting at home looking on, thinking to ourselves – ‘God, we could be there if we put our minds to it’.

“We went back training in January, the county championship was the first thing on our minds and we won that.

“Now we’ve beaten Drom & Inch and we have Na Piarsaigh in two weeks – we’re not looking past that.”

Nevertheless with De La Salle having won two of the last three titles, Waterford clubs having won four of the last ten, the Gunners will be under pressure to maintain that proud record.

“The last time we won it was in 2001, Mount Sion won it then in 2002 and De La Salle won in 2008 and 2010, so the tradition is there now, but why not?

“Waterford club hurling is very strong and any man who puts on the Waterford jersey or who puts on a club jersey representing Waterford is proud to do so — we’re no different. Hurling is to the fore in Waterford these days, all that’s missing is a club All-Ireland title and some club needs to step forward now and do that.

“It’s particularly strong in the city – if you drive into Waterford any night during the summer there’s some activity going on for the youngsters, whether it’s summer camps, Bord na nÓg. A lot of young lads are coming through. “Hurling is thriving down there and credit to all the coaches who are driving it on, doing a phenomenal job.”

With the population explosion of the last few decades Ballygunner has expanded hugely. What was once a village is now very much linked to the city, a thriving suburb. Not that Wayne sees is that way.

“There’s a huge catchment area there now but we still consider ourselves a country club, trying to go forward, and there’s a lot of great work being done at underage in Ballygunner.

They have a few problems to iron out first. The defence is strong, but 16 wides on Sunday is a cause for concern. “We’ll have to work on that, if you came up against a stronger team we’d have been punished for those misses. Mind you we expected Drom & Inch to be a bit stronger than they were. Shane Fitzpatrick (trainer) is after doing a great job with us this year. A lot of games come down to the last five minutes and we’re just in great shape to finish strongly.”