Ballyea left everything on the field of play in their valiant bid to claim the clubs second ever Munster Senior Club Hurling title, however Waterford kingpins Ballygunner prevailed in an intense battle at Semple Stadium Thurles.
Robbie Hogan’s men were making their first appearance at Semple stadium since the All-Ireland Semi-Final of 2017 and were quickest off the mark with thanks to Tony Kelly who was in imperious form throughout hitting twelve points over the hour converting from a sixty-five metre free inside the opening minute.
Dessie Hutchinson and Kevin Mahony then combined to put the defending champions in front before Pearse Lillis levelled the contest for the second occassion inside the opening five minutes.
The sides continued to trade scores with Tony Kelly leading the Ballyea fight hitting the next five points in a row for his side showing flawless accuracy with every placed ball and open play opportunity that came his way regardless of angle or distance to see the Clare men lead 0-07 to 0-06 by the seventeenth minute.
The crucial score came in Ballygunner’s response however when corner forward Patrick Fitzgerald unleashed a rocket past Barry Coote to raise the only green flag of the day ensuring Ballygunner enjoyed a 1-11 to 0-11 advantage at the break.
On the restart Kelly once again stepped up for Ballyea with yet another incredible strike from distance which was quickly followed by a Mossy Gavin effort to put the minimum between the teams and to all spectators it seemed a comeback was imminent.
However Ballygunner showed all their experience to keep the scoreboard ticking over with Pauric Mahony, Dessie Hutchinson and Patrick Fitzgerald who finished the tie with a personal tally of 1-04 finding their range as they outscored Ballyea by 0-07 to 0-02 in the final qaurter to slowly but surely stretch the lead out to nine and claim their fourth ever O’Neill cup.
As it finished in Semple Stadium, Ballygunner 1-23 To Ballyea 0-17.