Preview: AIB All-Ireland Club SHC Final - Ballygunner v Loughrea
Pictured are AIB ambassadors Pauric Mahony (Ballygunner) and Shane O’Brien (Loughrea) ahead of the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Final between Ballygunner and Loughrea. The eagerly anticipated AIB GAA All-Ireland Senior Club Championship finals will provide a fitting culmination to a season of thrilling encounters, nail-biting action, and sensational skill on Sunday, January 18th in Croke Park. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy.
Sunday, January 18
AIB All-Ireland club SHC final
Ballygunner (Waterford) v Loughrea (Galway), Croke Park, 1.30pm - TG4
Sunday’s AIB All-Ireland SHC Final looks set to be a ferociously fought contest.
Ballygunner and Lougrea play with a serious physical intensity that is the foundation stone for everything else they do, and it’ll be fascinating to see who can trump the other in that regard.
Both teams are defensively sound, possess a lot of energy in the middle third, and are potent in attack, so it’s going to be a battle between two nicely balanced teams.
The tale of the tape arguably favours Ballygunner. They’ve won 12 Waterford championships in a row, six Munster titles including four from the last five, and an All-Ireland title. That’s a serious CV to be bringing to the table.
They feel like they haven’t quite fulfilled their full potential though because in what has been a golden era for the club that single All-Ireland title they won in 2022 isn’t seen as enough.
Winning a second All-Ireland title would frank their status as a truly great team and they’re desperate to get their hands on the Tommy Moore Cup again.
You might have expected that by now their powers would be on the wane given that so many of their players have been ever-presents in the team for so many years, but they’ve arguably been better than ever in this campaign.
They hammered Mount Sion by 22 points in the Waterford Final and beat three quality teams in Munster in the shape of Na Piarsaigh of Limerick, Sarsfields of Cork, and Éire Óg Ennis of Clare.
St. Martin’s posed some difficult questions in the first half of the All-Ireland semi-final but Ballygunner found all the answers in the second-half.
Everyone knows by now how this Ballygunner team sets up and the game-plan they try to implement, but it’s another thing entirely stopping it.
Goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe’s distribution gives them a great platform, Philip Mahony’s deep-lying sweeper role makes them defensively very solid, players like Conor Sheahan, Harry Ruddle, Ronan Power, Mikey Mahony, and Peter Horgan give them great legs in the middle third, Pauric Mahony is the creative hub in attack, and Dessie Hutchinson and Patrick Fitzgerald are ruthless finishers close to goal.
They also have a serious impact from the bench when they introduce players like Mark Hatley and Conor Tobin.
If Loughrea are to pull off a surprise on Sunday then their first task will be to match Ballygunner’s work-rate, which not many teams are capable of doing.
This Loughrea side have hit big numbers throughout the campaign though when it comes to tackles, hooks, blocks, and turnovers, so they have form in that regard.
The loss of the suspended Cullen Killeen for the final is a big blow though because he gives them so much energy in the middle third and others will have to step up to the plate to off-set his absence.
On the flip side the return to fitness of Darren O’Shaughnessy who missed the All-Ireland semi-final win over Slaughtneil is a big boost.
They coped well without him in that win over the Ulster champions as forwards like Tiernan Killeen, Anthony Burns, Vince Morgan, and Jamie Ryan impressed in their attack, but O’Shaughnessy is the sort of match-winner you need on big days like this.
You get the feeling that Lougrea will rise to the occasion and that this will be a match of very fine margins, but Ballygunner’s greater experience, firepower, and impact off the bench makes them favourites for a reason.
