All about the journey as Saggart stay on - Creggan Kickhams 1-11 Ballysaggart 1-7

In injury time, Ballysaggart rummaged for two scores through the most inclement circumstances. The dark clouds burst into hail showers powered by the wind blasting into their faces. They were shorn of their star midfielder and Stephen Bennett clearly carried a knock. They hurled all the way to the end however with their backs, led by the miracle man Kieran Fennessy, driving in ball after ball. The mentors made a rallying plea with Adrian Meagher grabbing Daniel Devine at one stage near the sideline. The noisy blue and navy gathering greeted every contribution.

“Our fellas can hold their heads up,” Meagher said as departed the playing area. “They have been unbelievable all year. It was a dream to get to an All Ireland final. We came up here, we tried everything we possibly could and the boys worked hard. They got the break of the goal and it took an awful lot out of our fellas.”

Selector Pat Bennett composed himself and took a seat in the dugout before airing his thoughts on the performance of referee John Keenan. “I don’t be critical of refs and I never do but when you are putting in a Wicklow referee, that doesn’t know what hurling is about, then that’s what you get. He is a football ref by all accounts and he proved it today. Our boys were being flaked off the ball but once he doesn’t see them in the middle of the field. It’s not sour grapes, they won the game. We gave away a soft goal. We fought hard, I would not fault our guys any which way. It’s just disappointing for me when you put in a referee of that calibre for an All Ireland final. To me, it’s shocking.” Keenan was pushed up in place of Christy Browne after serving as standby referee the previous Saturday. A final warning would have sufficed instead of a second booking for Kieran Bennett. He also called back Conor McCann for a free after he had hung the sliotar in the top corner.

The scores were down on last week, but the collisions increased. The Munster champions voted to play with the assistance of the breeze blowing away from the Dunnes Stores end. Shane Bennett scored within 16 seconds. On seven minutes, Stephen Bennett’s daisy cutter from a 45 metre free dribbled under Brendan Prenter and into the net. For the fifth time in six games, Saggart had scored a first quarter major. Creggan clung on primarily through teenage upstart Conor Small. The number thirteen sprang out in front of his marker to chalk up three points from play. Ballysaggart lost goal poacher Ronan Walsh on 16 minutes. Substitute Colin Kearney compensated with a point to send them in two to the good (1-5 to 0-6). Would this prove sufficient?

For the ninth game running, they held a half time cushion to protect. Small’s swift turn and finish to the bottom corner on 38 minutes hit Saggart hard. Within a minute, Oran McCann knocked over a free to put them ahead for the first time. At the midway point, matters regressed further. Kieran was outdoing his younger brothers at the time of his dismissal. Alongside Christy Murphy, he was bossing the middle and extended Saggart’s lead to three early in the second half after a tidy one-two with Kenneth Cashell. He was one of four players yellow carded in the opening thirty and a contentious call for a foul on Ruairi McCann ended his afternoon.

Conor McCann nailed the resultant free (1-8 to 1-6). Roared on by their standing supporters, Saggart fought determinedly against the elements. Shane Bennett earned and converted a free to reduce the deficit to a single point on 48 minutes.

The Ulster champions finished with three on the trot to shut the door. Martin Johnston lashed over from inside his own half and Conor McCann added two, including a sensational wind assisted effort from midfield. They absorbed the loss of Johnston who also saw a second yellow for an off the ball altercation. Afterwards, the Creggan captain described the victory as “the best day of our lives.”

Ballysaggart are unlikely to disappear from the radar. When the pain of this defeat eases, all involved will reflect on a colourful adventure that the whole county got in behind. “Our supporters were probably outnumbered but they were way noisier,” Meagher said with pride. “We had five busloads from Ballysaggart again and a heap of people drove in cars and that. It’s a brilliant little place and we will keep driving on and we will try to keep promoting the GAA there. They love their hurling.”

They had gone further than Waterford junior club had dreamed about by winning the treble of Western, county and Munster titles. Their fifteen games contained 32 goals. Not to mention days out in Mallow, Tullamore, Croke Park and Mullingar. And after putting the feet up for a short while, the Western Intermediate championship will await their arrival. This resilient bunch will rise again. “We are going to take a break for a while and the boys will go back and have a look at the intermediate. That’s to look forward to, it’s a new challenge and we will see how things go.”