Peter the power behind Dungarvan

Every morning, on his way to work at Dungarvan CBS, he passes Peter Power on the road.

Power is the man who helped to spread the gospel of hurling to aspiring young stars on behalf of the Waterford county board for many years, a man who worked with Waterford’s 1992 All-Ireland U21 winning side.

Power coached McGrath when he was a boy too, just one of many shaped by a GAA genius. He’s 72 now but Power still knocks into Dungarvan CBS four or five times a week, coaching.

“Everybody knows who he is,” McGrath smiles. “Every morning of the week, you’d pass him. He cycles 10 miles to the pool and does 20 or 30 lengths. He’s back in here then for two or three o’clock.”

Power’s an integral part of the set-up that has brought Dungarvan CBS to today’s All-Ireland showpiece but McGrath credits Darragh Duggan with bringing the x-factor to the side. They go back a while, too, as Duggan used to train McGrath’s club, Brickey Rangers. When McGrath returned to Dungarvan CBS, where he was previously a pupil, Duggan, a native of Holycross in Tipperary, asked him to get involved with the school team along with Pat Collins. And since they teamed up with the ‘Friary’, or St Augustine’s as it’s widely-known, the mix has been potent.

Operating as Coláiste Na nDéise, a first Harty Cup was secured in 2012 and they retained the title this year, as Dungarvan Colleges.

McGrath is 28 now, and happily settled back where it all began. He remembers that Collins was team coach when he as going to school. McGrath was a hardy centre back in his day but he soldiered for the school at a time when hurling at that level barely registered in the local community.

It’s different now, of course.

“The only connection I can make is with the Fitzgibbon Cup success of WIT in the 1990s and 2000s,” McGrath says. “It became massive in Waterford – you had ‘Brick’ Walsh on three winning teams and the influx of Kilkenny players like Henry Shefflin and JJ Delaney raised the profile. Success brings recognition and now there are young lads around Dungarvan talking about the Harty. When I was in school here, there was no Harty Cup. We weren’t competitive enough – there was no school in our locality competing. Ourselves, the Friary, Kilmacthomas – none of the schools had any tradition. But Pat came from Farranferris [St Finbarrs] and Darragh from Thurles CBS, with a massive history.”

And now, instead of chucking brickbats at each other, the CBS and the Friary are working hand in glove. When St Augustine’s won the All-Ireland C football final last Saturday, a number of students from the CBS travelled to Newbridge to cheer them on. It’s likely that the compliment will be replayed when Dungarvan CBS take on St Mary’s of Belfast in the All-Ireland B hurling final, next weekend.

“There’s a good intermingling of parents going to matches, from both schools,” McGrath notes. “And that’s nice to see. And it’s brought all the lads together. It shows the value of coming together to achieve things.”

This afternoon in Thurles, Dungarvan Colleges will contest a first All-Ireland Colleges SAHC final, against Kilkenny CBS. The coveted Croke Cup is the prize at stake for the winners and it’s a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final. It’s suggested that Dungarvan Colleges are better than last year and, after some consideration, McGrath agrees.

“At the start of the year, it’s hard to know how strong a team is. Fellas get six months older during the course of a Harty Cup and that makes a massive difference. But we have a 15 as strong if not stronger than last year, hurling wise. Last year we were very strong physically but the younger lads have learned a lot. I don’t think we had the right frame of mind going into the Kilkenny CBS game last year. The drive was lost after the Harty Cup.”

Not this time, you suspect.