All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling final: Ballygunner (Waterford) 1-20 Loughrea (Galway) 1-14
The euphoria came dropping slowly. There was no moment when the game was blown apart or Loughrea put down their arms, just a drip, drip of strangling dominance, point by point, insistent and relentless. For Ballygunner, the cycle of setbacks and comebacks had finally come to this.
Their second All-Ireland title, four years after their first, had taken longer than anyone imagined it would. Since the turn of the decade, they have started each season as favourites or second favourites for the All-Ireland and in most of those years they were beaten by the team that would later lift the cup. None of that made them feel any better.
Just one All-Ireland for such a talented group of players raised a query that could only be answered i
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.