Climbing above Rockies was made latest Gunners triump special

Ballygunner manager Jason Ryan honoured to move ahead of Blackrock in hurling roll of honour

SPECIAL: Ballygunner celebrate victory in the AIB Munster Club SHC final match. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

“We were aware of it,” smiled Ballygunner manager Jason Ryan as he was asked if becoming the all-time Munster SHC record holders was a motivation.

The cheer that greeted provincial chairman Tim Murphy’s announcement afterwards that they had moved ahead of Blackrock at the top of the honours list was greeted by the players with the heartiest of cheers.

“What an honour,” said Ryan. “You talk about the Blackrocks and the Cummins' and the incredible success they had. As a player, you're in the window and you want to make the most out of that window when you can. That's what we're trying to do. There's no relenting in hunger from that team. If anything, it looks well stepped up from that.

“For the guys, if they take their foot off the pedal, there's a young lad that wants to come in and take it. If it's not a young lad, it's a guy that's been there for five or six years. He's just topping it to get there.

“The likes of Harry Ruddle has been fighting and fighting for a number of years. An opportunity came for him and he's had an absolutely tremendous season. He's just an example of you fight to get your chance and then when it comes, you do everything you can to hold on to the jersey.” 

This was Ballygunner joint-captain Peter Hogan’s fifth Munster medal but that would have been beyond his wildest dreams seven years ago.

“When we were looking at the 2018 final, we were wondering whether we’d win one or not. It’s been an incredible run to date. It’s a testament to the hard work the coaches put in and all the underage coaches and everyone in the club and the community that drives it day-in, day-out in the club and I suppose we’re reaping the rewards of their hard work.

“You don’t look back too much when you’re playing. You look to the next game, you’re constantly driving forward. It’s not something you think about too much but it’s a big achievement today.

“You have to look forward, you have to look at the next game, but hopefully in a couple of weeks we can look back and look at those achievements (top of Munster roll of honour).” 

There is no doubt that Ballygunner were smarting after losing to Sarsfields at this stage 12 months ago and Hogan felt they were better prepared this time around.

“I think our work-rate has gone up since last year," felt Hogan. "I think we went into the Munster final a small bit undercooked last year. We targeted the start of the game this year. I think we were 1-4 to a point down last year after 10 minutes, so I suppose we wanted a good start today.

“You have to learn from your biggest defeats. We were hurting last year and thankfully we learned a lot of hard lessons. I think we put some of them right today.” 

Ryan lauded the individual performance of Dessie Hutchinson who scored a third of Ballygunner’s total. “Brilliant, brilliant. He was simply outstanding in the Waterford championship. He was just awesome. He's maintained that. He's a real driving force.

“His desire and the way he works and trains. People on the outside wouldn't realise how hard he actually works. I'm not surprised that he performed so well today. On the pitch, Semple Stadium, there's space. He can pick up pockets of space in different places.

Dessie did that really well in the full forward line and the half forward line. I thought he was really clever today in his decisions.” 

Ballyhale Shamrocks and St Martin’s face off next weekend to meet Ballygunner a few days before Christmas. The timing of the game doesn’t bother Ryan.

“I'm a novice, so this is all new for me. I'll give this a go. I don't know, we didn't even think about it. We're big believers in going after what you can control.”