Ballygunner will take the time to enjoy special feat

NINE-IN-A-ROW: Ballygunner’s joint captains Ian Kenny and Dessie Hutchinson lift the cup. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Darragh O’Sullivan will now indulge in his great Ballygunner group equalling the nine-in-a-row feats of Mount Sion and Erins Own but up to the final whistle of the final it wasn’t a consideration.

Ballygunner’s ability to compartmentalise and move on from previous successes has been instrumental in this mammoth unbeaten run in the county, which extended to 48 games with this success.

“We never talked, never spoke about nine all year,” insisted O’Sullivan. “But when I wake up tomorrow morning and think of what we’ve done and the lads will wake up and there will be a smile on their faces thinking, ‘Jesus, we’ve done something really special here’.

“We don’t talk about past victories, we try and focus on the next game and try and drive on from there. That’s probably what makes us what we are. We’re very proud to do what we’ve done. Did we ever think we would get to it? Probably not but we’re there now and the club is extremely strong and you’d like to think we’re going to be there fighting at the top table for a long time to come.” 

That epic All-Ireland final win over Ballyhale Shamrocks last February may have been interpreted as a crowning achievement for this group but the bread and butter of county championship has been much to their liking again.

O’Sullivan believes the input the senior players have in coaching under-age teams and seeing some of those players transform into team-mates is a major catalyst for Ballygunner. “Every year, we try to do the little things differently, not much differently, but every year we do try to re-energise it.

“Every year new lads come into the panel and the lads there would have worked with them in juvenile teams. When you’re putting in effort with a juvenile team and one of them is coming into the panel to play alongside you, that’s going to re-energise you.

“We have strong foundations. If you want to be part of this group, you have to work your hardest and that’s a culture that’s in the club. They demand the highest standards of themselves, they demand the highest standards of us and anyone who comes into the group and that’s probably why they are energised and they have to have that work-rate.” 

Pulling off three great saves and giving a puck-out exhibition, Stephen O’Keeffe was a popular man of the match victor and O’Sullivan waxed lyrically about his goalkeeper. “I can’t wait to watch it back, to be honest,” he said of his display. “He’s as good as what there is or what there ever was. That’s how good this guy is. He’s a phenomenal goalkeeper, he’s a phenomenal part of this group and he’s going to be a phenomenal part for many years to come.” 

Once more, Ballygunner face a long wait to return to action in Munster, their quarter-final against the Tipperary winners taking place in eight weeks’ time on November 5/6 in Walsh Park. After seeing off Roanmore with ease at this stage last October, they bridged the same gap convincingly when they beat Ballyea in a Munster semi-final last November and O’Sullivan anticipates they will stick to the same plan.

"We’ll probably do the exact same as we did last year, have a couple of weeks off then wind it back up again. It worked well for us last year. It’s a tough draw against the Tipperary champions but that’s where you want to be, taking on the best and that’s going to happen in November.”