Stephen O’Keeffe came in for special praise from Ballygunner manager Jason Ryan after his man of the match performance in last Sunday’s All-Ireland club SHC final.

The former All-Star goalkeeper was at his brilliant best as the Gunners overpowered Loughrea in the second half to claim the Tommy Moore Cup for the second time in four seasons.

“His experience playing with the club, with Harty Cup, Waterford underage teams… he played so many years under really good managers with Waterford and there’s been so many key games,” Ryan noted.

“How do you get better at making big decisions in big games? By playing big games and making big decisions. And being able to take those risks. The more you do, the less of a risk it is because your standards are very high.

“His striking ability, his saves today were key. At really important times of the game for us. While it gives us a boost when he does it, it also hits the opposition, who think ‘Ah, we had a chance there!’

“But we would like to think the same thing, we had goal chances we didn’t take as well. But his influence is massive.”

The former Wexford and Kildare football boss added: “There’s a lot of trust. The players trust him. The amount of games he has played with our midfield, our half-forward line. There are relationships where there are guys running and all it takes is a look.

“That’s why integrating the Conor Tobins and Mark Hartley and Eoin Cuddihy and Alan O’Neills into the team is important, so that they can develop relationships with Stephen.”

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