Relentless Ballygunner tear Mount Sion apart

Ballygunner 0-29 Mount Sion 0-9 (Waterford SHC quarter-final): A 20-point blowout against the old enemy confirmed Ballygunner’s standing as the team to beat in this year’s Waterford senior hurling championship in Fraher Field on Saturday night.

These clubs sparred in eight county finals and two replays during the 1990s and 2000s but the rivalry has fizzled of late — the game was up for Mount Sion by half-time.

Pauric Mahony and Brian O’Sullivan instigated the rout. Austin Gleeson was detailed to track Mahony around the half back-line with Michael Gaffney in a free role but the Gunners employed a methodical approach to nullify that tactic. Short puckouts from Stephen O’Keeffe offered an attacking platform as they worked the ball up to the deadly inside combo of O’Sullivan and Peter Hogan.

After Martin F O’Neill’s opener for Sion, the champions reeled off seven on the bounce. Mahony clipped over a sideline in the fourth minute. Another awesome purple patch of six unanswered points, including a Mahony missile, created an irretrievable 0-16 to 0-7 halfway margin.

Gleeson landed a free two minutes into the second period but the Monastery men only lifted one more white flag via Donal Power. With little bite to the contest, the Gunners picked off points at will. Brian O’Sullivan scored from a seemingly impossible angle as he clocked up seven from play. His brother David chipped in with four. Fergal Hartley emptied the bench and even gave goalkeeper O’Keeffe a breather. With no injuries to report, their four in a row quest rolls on to next weekend.

Scorers for Ballygunner:

Pauric Mahony 0-12 (6fs, 1 s-l); Brian O’Sullivan 0-7; D O’Sullivan 0-4; P Hogan, B O’Keeffe 0-2 each; H Barnes, C Power 0-1 each.

Scorers for Mount Sion:

S Roche 0-3 (2fs); O Whelan, A Gleeson (2fs) 0-2 each; M O’Neill (f), D Power 0-1 each.

BALLYGUNNER:

S O’Keeffe; I Kenny, B Coughlan, E Hayden; W Hutchinson, Philip Mahony, S Walsh; H Barnes, S O’Sullivan; D O’Sullivan, Pauric Mahony, B O’Keeffe; Brian O’Sullivan, P Hogan, C Power.

Subs:

M Mahony for Hogan (40); D Walsh for Power (52); C Sheehan for Barnes (54); Barry O’Sullivan for B O’Keeffe (54); P Cooke for S O’Keeffe (56).

MOUNT SION:

I O’Regan; P Penkert, A Coady, M Daykin; J Dee, M Gaffney, S O’Neill; O Whelan, A Gleeson; J Kennedy, A Dempsey, M O’Neill; S Roche, J Broaders, M Hoban.

Subs:

D Power for Hoban (17); E Curran for Dee (41); B Flanagan for Dempsey (47); C Ryan for Gaffney (47); C O’Regan for M O’Neill (54).

Referee:

T O’Sullivan