Congratulations to Mount Sion on recapturing the Waterford senior hurling title before what was by far the biggest crowd ever seen at a club championship match in the county. What a pity the game itself was so disappointing. However, no blame for this can be laid at the door of the Monastery men, who played with great style and exuberance from start to finish. It was great to see Ken McGrath back in action, and to such good effect. An Moltóir looks forward to him assuming the captaincy of the county team, in which role he will certainly be leading by example.

It was also wonderful to see Tony Browne back to his brilliant best, and we can now expect to see him playing in the forward line for the county in the coming year, given his scoring exploits in the final and semi-final. He should also take over the free-taking duties, as he is by far the truest striker of a ball in the county. Eoin McGrath also surely played himself onto the county panel, and a place could also well be found for the third member of the clan, Roy, as his kind of commitment is what Waterford need to make the breakthrough at intercounty level. Beside him, Brian Flannery was in super form, and completely obliterated the threat of Tony Carroll, who had done major damage in earlier rounds of the competition. Other Sion men to impress were Gary Gater at fullback and Anthony Kirwan, who scored five points playing in the half forward line.

However, the most impressive newcomer to emerge in this championship is Eoin Kelly, whose performances at midfield have been pivotal in Mount Sion's march to the title. For one so young, his fieldcraft is astonishing, and the confident way he goes about seeking out scores once he gains possession is most impressive. Furthermore, in the final he showed he has plenty of appetite for the tough stuff in close exchanges. Once he fills out a little, and assuming he can keep an even keel, he will become a very formidable performer on the hurling field.

For Ballygunner, it was a complete off-day. They were literally stuck to the ground, and just could not get going. Perhaps if one of Paul Foley's first-half goal chances had found the net, it would have given them the prod they needed. It was a disappointing day for Foley, as a good performance here could have earned him a chance at intercounty level. However, very few of the Gunners looked of intercounty standard last week. Tom Fives and Paul Power battled hard right through, but you need more than a two-stroke engine to succeed at this level.

Of course, talk of Ballygunner being past it after one bad performance is utter rubbish. If anything, they had strengthened their team this year, with Alan Kirwan doing well at fullback up to the final and Paul Foley adding considerably to their forward power. However, they completely conceded the initiative to Mount Sion by withdrawing Fergal Hartley to fullback to mark Ken McGrath early in the first half. This meant that Ballygunner's best ball winner and playmaker never had an opportunity to perform these roles. Furthermore, while Hartley may have bolstered the last line of defence, this was at the expense of undermining the crucial half line, where Browne, Kirwan and Eoin McGrath were rampant. It was amazing that even when things looked totally ominous for the Gunners in the second half, they did not move Hartley to a more central position on the field.

We now wish Mount Sion the best of luck in the Munster club championship. It looks like this may now be run on a mini-round robin system this year, although one should be very suspicious of any scheme being advocated by Frank Murphy. Presumably he figures that, with Cork teams faring dreadfully in the first round in recent years, they have everything to gain by being given a second bite of the cherry. However, the suggestion that the competition will not get under way until the end of October is outrageous. It should start at the beginning of that month, when playing conditions are likely to be much more conducive to good hurling. Otherwise, counties which complete their championship early, such as Waterford this year, are being penalised by a long wait for their next big game. Nevertheless, Mount Sion should go into the competition with considerable hopes of success. They have a lot of scoring ability up front, and the return of Ger Harris will add strength and experience to their defence. They are well capable of going one better than Ballygunner and capturing the provincial title. This would provide a great boost to the county in advance of next year's intercounty campaign.

Meanwhile, the recasting of the Waterford Crystal League will give it a national profile and much added prestige. Perhaps next year it could be merged with the Oireachtas to provide one single national pre-Christmas competition with all the top counties on board. It is an excellent springboard for trying out new players, and one hopes that Gerald McCarthy will avail of the opportunity of giving a decent run to some of the emerging new talent in Waterford. He should adopt a policy of playing six or seven of the established panel in rotation - just to keep their eye in - while giving an extended chance to such players as Pat Fitzgerald, Seamus Prendergast, John Mullane, Jack Kennedy and John Donovan to demonstrate what they are capable of.