Ballygunner of Waterford are the All-Ireland Champions after beating Ballyhale.
Ballyhale Shamrocks are the perennially winners of club hurling.
The Kilkenny side have seen superstars of intercounty teams come through their ranks, winning All-Ireland Championships for Kilkenny and All-Ireland Championships for Ballyhale. One of those stars, TJ Reid, scored a last-gasp goal from a free in the previous round to keep Ballyhale on track.
Alas, fate would turn in the final. It was Ballyhale who lost out to a last-second goal against Ballygunner in Croke Park. Ballyhale won the prior two Club All-Ireland Championships so they were in position to become the first club side to win three consecutively.
Up steps Harry Ruddle.
You’d do well to script a finish like this pic.twitter.com/ECFT2Gs7wu
— Tommy Rooney (@TomasORuanaidh) February 12, 2022
The Waterford man came off the bench and found himself running in on goal in the final moments. He had to go for goal, so all odds were against him. But the quality of his strike made it very difficult for the goalkeeper to track the ball as it travelled from such a distance away.
He bounced the ball expertly into the corner of the net.
The Ballygunner captain spoke about Ballyhale as the best club side ever during his speech. He also noted that he felt they had robbed them of a victory on the day, but said they had likely done the same to other teams in the past. It was a fine example of sport brings the best and worst moments together to create drama.
Ballygunner are All-Ireland Champions for the first time. But not only that, they are the first club team from Waterford to ever win the All-Ireland Championship.
Pauric Mahoney was the leading scorer for Ballygunner with 0-7 while Reid scored 0-8 for Ballyhale, including four points from frees.
Club Championship coverage on Off The Ball, brought to you by AIB - Proud sponsors of the Football, Hurling and Camogie All-Ireland Club Championships.
Check out #TheToughest for more.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
