That’s the reality of what happened there. “The first quarter we had there, the performance, was probably the best quarter we played in the last eight years. Winning manager Darragh O’Sulivan was rapturous about the champions’ opening power surge in the opening quarter, which left the match as a contest gasping for air by the first water break at 1-9 to 0-2. Pauric Mahony added a point quickly and the riposte from Gavin O’Brien, who pointed a free, had to do the challengers until they trailed by 11 despite facing the wind on what was a lovely afternoon in Walsh Park before a crowd of 2,412 - a tumult compared to last year’s final, played behind closed doors. The match was never again a matter of conjecture. We had over two minutes of helter-skelter bumping and rucking but in the third minute Robert Power pushed up from defence and found fellow defender Tadhg Foley in support.įor a young player he showed an immediate grasp of practicalities: if within sight of goal with a choice between a handy point and an unmarked Hutchinson to his right, you make sure the pass sticks. Roanmore came into this - their first final in 31 years but under the baton of Peter Queally, the last manager to strategise a defeat for the champions, with Passage in the 2013 final - as outsiders and hoping to establish the ground-rules of a tight, physical contest in the early stages.įor a while it went to plan. Those adjudicating the man of the match award had their work done equally quickly, as Dessie Hutchinson pocketed 1-4 by the end of the first quarter and went on to amass 1-9, all from play.

A blitzkrieg start blasted Ballygunner to an eighth successive Waterford hurling title at Walsh Park on Sunday afternoon.

Blitzkrieg 3 game