SAINTS HIT BY VOLLEY

'Gunner second-half blast downs Wexford champs

- BY STEPHEN BARRY

ON the shortest day of the year, Ballygunner took the longest time to click into gear. Once they did, they found an overdrive mode which left St Martin's for dust.

Jason Ryan wasn't claiming any tactical genius behind the Gunners' second-half turnaround, which powered them into an All-Ireland final against Loughrea.

By the 37th minute, the 2022 champions had just five points to their name as they trailed by three. From there to the hour, they outscored the Wexford champions by 0-14 to 0-1. They missed just two shots out of 16 in that hot-handed streak.

The experienced heads of Dessie Hutchinson, who collected a second consecutive man of the match trophy, and Pauric Mahony contributed 0-7 each. But it was the introduction of teenager Mark Hartley which provided the spark in front of 3,373 fans at Semple Stadium.

The minor graduate came on in the 37th minute with the 12-in-a-row Waterford kingpins down by three. They would score the next eight points without reply. Hartley played a key role in five of those: scoring one, assisting two, and winning two converted frees.