The first Waterford club to achieve that in a senior club hurling final.
Eight-time county winners since 2014 but frequently visited with disappointment in Munster and the All-Ireland series until now.
And all that achieved by a last-gasp goal from a substitute in Croke Park in sensational fashion against the best hurling club in the country.
For Darragh O’Sullivan and Philip Mahony, uncle and nephew, Ballygunner manager and captain, it was easy to understand their sheer joy in Croke Park yesterday.
All-Ireland kingpins..
Darragh O’Sullivan: “That late goal, that takes belief. Harry Ruddle, who had played every game in the local championship, but probably didn’t get 15 or 20 minutes since then. For him to have the bravery to take that ball on, to run through the centre of the defence, and finish like that is phenomenal, brought into a cauldron like that. They’re fabulous guys, a family of brothers.
“People might say that domination is bad, but I’m sick to the teeth of saying that it’s good for Waterford hurling, and Waterford hurling should get a bounce from this, because we are better in Waterford that we probably think we are. I’m so happy for everyone, it’s amazing. They build this community.”
Billy and Stephen O'Keeffe celebrate Ballygunner's win. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
The difference Dessie Hutchinson has made…
DOS: “Ah listen, Dessie came back and he’s been phenomenal. He’s a professional athlete playing hurling. I remember meeting him near the office and he said ‘Darragh, I’m thinking of going in with the Waterford footballers’ and I said ‘I don’t mind if you go in with the footballers but I want you up in the field every night training — not the physical stuff, but you need the hurling, because that’s what you’re going to be missing.’
‘I said I have no doubt that in six or eight months time, you won’t be playing with the Waterford footballers, you’ll be playing with the hurlers, and that’s how good you are’.
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“That’s what he did, he came training every night. He’s a phenomenal hurler but a phenomenal human being as well. His family are a strong family that back each other up.”
Dessie Hutchinson scores his side's first goal. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
The view on the pitch of that dramatic goal…
Philip Mahony: “I couldn’t see it — the lads just turned away. And then James Owens was saying it [time] was up. Our former manager Denis Walsh text me during the week — a great man. Sometimes people text you something and it strikes a chord with you. He said ‘hang in there, stay in there’. That’s all you can do.
“For years, we came out of the Munster championships beaten with people questioning us, saying we couldn’t do it. We knew we could, we always believed. It’s such a tight group. Sometimes, when you put in so much work, you get a stroke of luck and what you deserve. That’s what happened today. It became an obsession, without saying it openly. The thoughts of going back to Ballygunner with the All-Ireland trophy tonight, it’s just unbelievable.
“You just dream about this at five or six years of age. I remember with Pauric (his brother), and Darragh is living in the same house now, hitting the ball off the wall and you literally do dream of stuff like this, It’s a special, special feeling and we’re so lucky to come from a place like Ballygunner where everyone is rowing in the same direction. We’re going to enjoy this so much because we put so much effort into it.”
The Offaly native in the key coaching role…
DOS: “Philip mentioned a couple of people earlier – the likes of Denis Walsh who had a part to play in this story. There’s a guy in that group with us, David Franks, who’s one of these lads’ best friends. He came to us five years ago. There’s nobody has done any more than he has in getting us to where we are.
“He’s a phenomenal guy, a friend of the lads, club and a friend mine. He’s real, real decent human being and a phenomenal coach. His input into this should never be understated – how he stuck with us.
“I took up the job three years ago after being beaten by Ballyhale (2019 All-Ireland semi-final). I knew in December that Fergal (Hartley) probably wasn’t going to take up the role again, I was getting involved with Waterford minors and the chairman came to me and said, ‘Darragh, you’re going to have to do this’.
“I said, ‘I don’t need to do this – I don’t particularly want to do this. Get Fergal to stay on.’ They didn’t and I remember meeting David Franks down at the club and I said, ‘David, I need you to stay with us. The rest of the lads have stepped away.’
“He said, ‘Darragh, when I came to Ballygunner there weren’t too many people ringing me and asking me to get involved and the last thing I’m going to do is leave Ballygunner when I think they need me most’.
“That’s a testament of character. That year I probably asked five or six people to get involved as selectors and for various reasons they couldn’t. We were in a Munster final against Borris-Ileigh and it was just me and David and Seánie O’Donnell in the stand. It was a very, very lonely place.
“But David Franks is a phenomenal guy. It should never go understated what he has contributed to this group of players, the same with Denis Walsh and Fergal Hartley. Martin Fogarty was here in the first year with Fergal. Phenomenal guys.
“Today’s for dreaming and we’ve dreamt and we’re there. An amazing feeling, lads. An amazing feeling.”
Philip Mahony and Barry Coughlan lift the cup. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Darragh O’Sullivan as manager…
PM: “He said to me one Christmas five or six years ago, ‘I’m thinking of getting involved with the minors. Will you do it with me?’ And I said, yeah, of course. We were excited by it. The first year – the lads had been well beaten at under-16 the previous year and had conceded 10 goals in one of the games – so it was a great job to come into. Harry Ruddle was actually one of the guys on the team.
“One thing Darragh does is get the most out of every single person in the whole group. He manages everything and it’s the easiest thing in the world as a player in Ballygunner at the moment because every single thing is done for you. He’s the man at the top and he drives that.
“I know he’s my uncle too and I can’t believe actually sitting here in Croke Park that we’ve done it. This was a burning obsession for so many years. I remember Darragh’s father, my grandfather, for years every single Paddy’s Day. It might be down in Blenheim in the home house and he’d say, ‘we’ll be there some day’ and he was instilling that into the likes of Pauric, me and Shane and the other lads in there.
“He passed away a few years ago and he’ll be looking down on us and my God! He’ll be smiling on us. I can’t believe it, lads, to be honest.”
The longer-serving players watching on…
PM: “Unbelievable. Lads that soldiered for years, literally. They will enjoy this so much because they know what went into it. The likes of Brian and David, Shane Walsh, Wayne, JJ – I could go on, Harley. There’s so many more people too. I saw the likes of Paddy Cooke in the stand after the match with tears in his eyes Our best friends.
“We’re just so lucky that it’s such a close group of lads. So many people are going to get so much enjoyment from this – it’s crazy, really.
“It still hasn’t sunk in. I can’t believe we’re sitting here.”
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Uncle and nephew, manager and captain, All-Ireland winners - 'This was a burning obsession'
ALL-IRELAND HURLING champions for the first time.
The first Waterford club to achieve that in a senior club hurling final.
Eight-time county winners since 2014 but frequently visited with disappointment in Munster and the All-Ireland series until now.
And all that achieved by a last-gasp goal from a substitute in Croke Park in sensational fashion against the best hurling club in the country.
For Darragh O’Sullivan and Philip Mahony, uncle and nephew, Ballygunner manager and captain, it was easy to understand their sheer joy in Croke Park yesterday.
All-Ireland kingpins..
Darragh O’Sullivan: “That late goal, that takes belief. Harry Ruddle, who had played every game in the local championship, but probably didn’t get 15 or 20 minutes since then. For him to have the bravery to take that ball on, to run through the centre of the defence, and finish like that is phenomenal, brought into a cauldron like that. They’re fabulous guys, a family of brothers.
“People might say that domination is bad, but I’m sick to the teeth of saying that it’s good for Waterford hurling, and Waterford hurling should get a bounce from this, because we are better in Waterford that we probably think we are. I’m so happy for everyone, it’s amazing. They build this community.”
The difference Dessie Hutchinson has made…
DOS: “Ah listen, Dessie came back and he’s been phenomenal. He’s a professional athlete playing hurling. I remember meeting him near the office and he said ‘Darragh, I’m thinking of going in with the Waterford footballers’ and I said ‘I don’t mind if you go in with the footballers but I want you up in the field every night training — not the physical stuff, but you need the hurling, because that’s what you’re going to be missing.’
‘I said I have no doubt that in six or eight months time, you won’t be playing with the Waterford footballers, you’ll be playing with the hurlers, and that’s how good you are’.
“That’s what he did, he came training every night. He’s a phenomenal hurler but a phenomenal human being as well. His family are a strong family that back each other up.”
The view on the pitch of that dramatic goal…
Philip Mahony: “I couldn’t see it — the lads just turned away. And then James Owens was saying it [time] was up. Our former manager Denis Walsh text me during the week — a great man. Sometimes people text you something and it strikes a chord with you. He said ‘hang in there, stay in there’. That’s all you can do.
“For years, we came out of the Munster championships beaten with people questioning us, saying we couldn’t do it. We knew we could, we always believed. It’s such a tight group. Sometimes, when you put in so much work, you get a stroke of luck and what you deserve. That’s what happened today. It became an obsession, without saying it openly. The thoughts of going back to Ballygunner with the All-Ireland trophy tonight, it’s just unbelievable.
“You just dream about this at five or six years of age. I remember with Pauric (his brother), and Darragh is living in the same house now, hitting the ball off the wall and you literally do dream of stuff like this, It’s a special, special feeling and we’re so lucky to come from a place like Ballygunner where everyone is rowing in the same direction. We’re going to enjoy this so much because we put so much effort into it.”
The Offaly native in the key coaching role…
DOS: “Philip mentioned a couple of people earlier – the likes of Denis Walsh who had a part to play in this story. There’s a guy in that group with us, David Franks, who’s one of these lads’ best friends. He came to us five years ago. There’s nobody has done any more than he has in getting us to where we are.
“He’s a phenomenal guy, a friend of the lads, club and a friend mine. He’s real, real decent human being and a phenomenal coach. His input into this should never be understated – how he stuck with us.
“I took up the job three years ago after being beaten by Ballyhale (2019 All-Ireland semi-final). I knew in December that Fergal (Hartley) probably wasn’t going to take up the role again, I was getting involved with Waterford minors and the chairman came to me and said, ‘Darragh, you’re going to have to do this’.
“I said, ‘I don’t need to do this – I don’t particularly want to do this. Get Fergal to stay on.’ They didn’t and I remember meeting David Franks down at the club and I said, ‘David, I need you to stay with us. The rest of the lads have stepped away.’
“He said, ‘Darragh, when I came to Ballygunner there weren’t too many people ringing me and asking me to get involved and the last thing I’m going to do is leave Ballygunner when I think they need me most’.
“That’s a testament of character. That year I probably asked five or six people to get involved as selectors and for various reasons they couldn’t. We were in a Munster final against Borris-Ileigh and it was just me and David and Seánie O’Donnell in the stand. It was a very, very lonely place.
“But David Franks is a phenomenal guy. It should never go understated what he has contributed to this group of players, the same with Denis Walsh and Fergal Hartley. Martin Fogarty was here in the first year with Fergal. Phenomenal guys.
“Today’s for dreaming and we’ve dreamt and we’re there. An amazing feeling, lads. An amazing feeling.”
Darragh O’Sullivan as manager…
PM: “He said to me one Christmas five or six years ago, ‘I’m thinking of getting involved with the minors. Will you do it with me?’ And I said, yeah, of course. We were excited by it. The first year – the lads had been well beaten at under-16 the previous year and had conceded 10 goals in one of the games – so it was a great job to come into. Harry Ruddle was actually one of the guys on the team.
“One thing Darragh does is get the most out of every single person in the whole group. He manages everything and it’s the easiest thing in the world as a player in Ballygunner at the moment because every single thing is done for you. He’s the man at the top and he drives that.
“I know he’s my uncle too and I can’t believe actually sitting here in Croke Park that we’ve done it. This was a burning obsession for so many years. I remember Darragh’s father, my grandfather, for years every single Paddy’s Day. It might be down in Blenheim in the home house and he’d say, ‘we’ll be there some day’ and he was instilling that into the likes of Pauric, me and Shane and the other lads in there.
“He passed away a few years ago and he’ll be looking down on us and my God! He’ll be smiling on us. I can’t believe it, lads, to be honest.”
The longer-serving players watching on…
PM: “Unbelievable. Lads that soldiered for years, literally. They will enjoy this so much because they know what went into it. The likes of Brian and David, Shane Walsh, Wayne, JJ – I could go on, Harley. There’s so many more people too. I saw the likes of Paddy Cooke in the stand after the match with tears in his eyes Our best friends.
“We’re just so lucky that it’s such a close group of lads. So many people are going to get so much enjoyment from this – it’s crazy, really.
“It still hasn’t sunk in. I can’t believe we’re sitting here.”
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Ballygunner Hurling