Last-gasp Colligan claim first Waterford junior title in 38 years

 

Waterford Junior A Hurling Final: Colligan 3-16 Ballygunner 2-14 

Two Gavin Whelan goals inspired Colligan to their first county Junior A hurling title since 1984 at Fraher Field on Saturday evening.

Only two points separated the teams, three minutes into injury time, when a Johnny Wall dropped a free in around the house and Whelan forced the ball home. The goalscorer jumped for joy as the final whistle sounded.

39-year-old Wall, who has been hurling for the black and amber since 1998, hit eight points while Déise senior Colin Dunford and man of the match Joe Booth got two each. Deadly free taker Stephen Power struck 1-12 for the Gunners.

Whelan whipped to the roof of the net in the ninth minute after he was supplied by Dunford. A Ross Brown point gave them a 1-6 to 0-2 advantage. Power sent over seven frees to reduce the gap to two. Colligan grabbed the last five points of the half, including three Wall frees, to leave them 1-11 to 0-7 ahead at the break.

Dunford set up another Colligan goal two minutes into the second period as Brown buried a shot to the bottom corner (2-11 to 0-8). 1-2 for the wing forward. Seanie McGrath made two big saves from Power but the Gunners' full forward eventually found the net on 44 minutes.

When Cormac O'Mahony flicked home a Cian Troy free, there was only one between them with six to play (2-15 to 2-14), Ballygunner missed two chances to level before Wall nailed a crucial 65 for Colligan. Whelan's second goal started the celebrations.

Scorers for Colligan: J Wall 0-8 (7fs, 1 65), G Whelan 2-0, R Brown 1-2, J Booth, C Dunford 0-2 each, J Dunford, R Dunford 0-1 each.

Scorers for Ballygunner: S Power 1-12 (12fs), C O'Mahony 1-0, R Fitzpatrick, T Fitzgerald 0-1 each.

COLLIGAN: S McGrath; A O'Riordan, JN Fennell, L Beresford; M Flynn, D Booth, R Stringer; J Booth, D Dunford; R Brown, J Wall, J Dunford; G Whelan, R Kiely, C Dunford.

Subs: R Dunford for Kiely (21), A Dunford for O'Riordan (HT), M Horgan for D Dunford (47).

BALLYGUNNER: C Troy; K Furlong, W Kiely, C O'Keeffe; R Fitzpatrick, W Hutchinson, C O'Sullivan; C Kenny, R McGuire; C O'Mahony, T Fitzgerald, E Cullen; J Troy, S Power, G O'Connor.

Subs: D Nolan for Cullen (21), T Phelan for J Troy (40), D Fitzpatrick for O'Keeffe (58).

Referee: T Tobin