The AIB club championships have no great record of rewarding persistence. But yesterday at Thurles, Waterford hurling champions Ballygunner were granted a happy derogation from this trend. The club's fifth Munster final finally yielded a title and confounded the not-unreasonable assumption that chances of provincial success had ebbed away from the Waterford side.
For a match that was so delicately poised at half-time, this final took an unexpectedly decisive lurch on the restart. Ballygunner came good with 1-1 in the opening minute of the second half and a focused display that brooked no argument from the Cork champions.
They won comfortably in the end, scoring 1-2 in the last five minutes. But they had taken a stranglehold earlier on in the match through the excellence of their half backs - centre back Fergal Hartley in particular, despite a feisty display by his marker Liam Meaney - a fine second half from centrefielder Tom Fives and the prolific scoring of Paul Flynn.
Blackrock will wonder how it all went so flat for them. Undoubtedly one prominent reason was a litany of wides in the first half. Some were down to bad shooting, others to aimless ball directed at no one in particular and which ran harmlessly wide. Ten was the total for the first half-hour. Alan Browne, normally such a high-yield forward but out-of-sorts and afforded little support yesterday, was responsible for five of them.
One perceptive observer pointed out that in the past (specifically 1996 and '99), Ballygunner had started finals so nervously that they were facing a substantial deficit by the time they started to play. The Cork side's profligacy ensured that history wasn't going to repeat itself on that score.
Yet there was more to it than that. The teams were level at the break and the match was well within the grasp of both sides. If anything Blackrock had strengthened and come strongly into contention towards the interval and the Waterford team were looking a little edgy as goalkeeper Ray Whitty's puck-outs consistently pulled to the left.
It is therefore particularly to Ballygunner's credit that they had the stomach to ratchet up the tempo and put their opponents onto the back foot. This pressure broke Blackrock's challenge because although the margin was reduced to two points in the early stages of the second half, that gap represented the summit of the Cork challenge and the winners were clearly in control throughout the second period.
The first half was uneven. Ballygunner were on top during the first quarter but faded in the second. Their three-point, 0-4 to 0-1 lead, after 15 minutes owed something to Blackrock's seven wides but also to their own steadiness. A couple of Flynn dead-ball strikes were complemented by well-taken scores from play by Paul Foley - switching effectively to the wing in a swap with Flynn - and Stephen Frampton's inspiring effort from about 65 metres.
If there was menace in some of Blackrock's moves, the finish was often poor - Barry Hennebry sliced through the middle in the 12th minute and instead of taking his point, tried to embroider something finer and soon the ball was on its way back up the pitch.
The Cork team's best spell coincided with their defence getting well on top. Wayne Sherlock cleared some fine ball, Noel Keane's aggression unsettled and, as a unit, they covered tightly and smothered Ballygunner's attempts to create and execute chances.
Blackrock ran off four unanswered points, including a pretty brace from Brian O'Keeffe - one set up by a storming run from Fergal Ryan - and the half-time score was 0-6 each.
Little more than a minute into the second half Flynn had pointed a free and Foley - consistently awkward for Blackrock - got the slightest of touches to a Hartley free to divert the ball gently into the net. There followed a critical moment when Alan Browne, from the restart, sent John O'Flynn in for a goal but he pulled the chance wide and, in retrospect, that marked the beginning of the end.
One anxious moment for Ballygunner was averted when referee Pat O'Connor showed Rory O'Sullivan a yellow card for hacking down O'Keeffe in the 47th minute. Having been given the advantage, Blackrock had to settle for a 65 that went wide rather than for a close-in free.
Gradually the Corkmen's composure disintegrated and Ballygunner sniped the scores that pushed the match further away from their opponents. Hartley and Andy Moloney combined to send Flynn in for the goal that put the tin hat on it in the 58th minute.
Surveying the changing landscape of the All-Ireland championship, the Gunners will fancy their chances. And not without reason.
BALLYGUNNER: R Whitty; N O'Donnell, A Kirwan, R O'Sullivan; S Frampton (0-1), F Hartley, C Kehoe; T Fives, P Power; M Mahony, P Flynn (1-9, six frees, two 65s), A Moloney (0-1); B O'Sullivan (capt; 0-2), P Foley (1-1), D O'Sullivan. Subs: T Carroll for D O'Sullivan (h-t).
BLACKROCK: T Barry; W Sherlock (capt), N Keane, J Browne; D Gosnell, A Cummins, F Ryan; P Tierney (0-1), A Coughlan (0-2, one free, one 65); B Hennebry, L Meaney (0-2), J O'Flynn; D Cashman (0-1), A Browne (0-4, two frees, one 65), B O'Keeffe (0-2).
Referee: P O'Connor (Limerick)
