Underdogs Ballyduff Upper withstood a late rally from Ballygunner to be crowned Waterford senior hurling champions for the first time since 1987 amid joyous scenes at Walsh Park. Ballyduff Upper..1-18 Ballygunner...1-14 With just a minute of normal time remaining, Ballyduff looked home and dry when leading by six points but within the space of 60 seconds, that lead was reduced to just two following a goal from Stephen Power and an Andy Moloney point. But showing tremendous character, Ballyduff replied with late pointed frees from Brendan Hannon and goalkeeper Adrian Power to seal a memorable victory and finally end the Ballygunner challenge. Ballyduff were the better team overall, and they were never headed after the fifth minute when Stephen Power cancelled out Hannon's opening score. With All-Star Stephen Molumphy dominating at midfield, Ballyduff took a firm grip on proceedings in the 10th minute when Patrick Kearney scored the opening goal. Leading by 1-11 to 0-8 at the interval, the underdogs increased their lead to 1-15 to 0-10 inside 10 minutes and despite the introduction of county star Paul Flynn to their attack, Ballygunner couldn't breach the Ballyduff defence until those dramatic closing moments. Ballyduff, who became the first club from West Waterford to win the senior title since 1993, now progress to face Clare champions Tulla in the Munster club semi-final on Sunday week. Tweet

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