Ryan hails 'special day' after Ballygunner triumph
Jason Ryan hailed a "special day" for Ballygunner after the Waterford side claimed their second AIB All-Ireland Senior Hurling title on Sunday.
The Gunners ran out 1-20 to 1-14 winners over Loughrea at Croke Park to add another national success to their maiden 2022 triumph.
And it was a momentous day for the club and county at large, according to manager Ryan.
"Massive day, special day, really proud to be involved with a Waterford team coming to Croke Park, winning an All-Ireland and for the Ballygunner community and Ballygunner players to have won an All-Ireland today is just really, really special," he said RTÉ's Sunday Sport.
"They're such a talented group. There's so much competition in the group that we felt coming into this game that if we got a little bit of luck and if we were able to follow the game-plan and everybody followed their jobs and we kept players fit that we'd have a really good chance of winning the game.
"So from the get-go, while in the first half things didn't go exactly the way we wanted, we were still going in at half-time winning the game and thankfully in the second half the players really pushed on."
Former Kildare and Wexford senior football manager Ryan emphasised his connection to the club, explaining that he lives a few short miles away, his son Joss plays for Ballygunner, while both of his children went to primary school locally.
In light of that, he added that he felt privileged to be involved on such an occasion for the club.
"How lucky am I to be here on All-Ireland final day. I was somebody that was coming here as a spectator when I was younger and watching Club All-Ireland finals on St Patrick's Day," he said.
"To be here now, the privilege of being involved with a group that win the All-Ireland, the best club team in Ireland - over 2,000 club teams in Ireland - and Ballygunner are top of the tree in hurling there for 2025, so we're just absolutely delighted with that."
Loughrea manager Tommy Kelly
Loughrea manager Tommy Kelly felt his own side's shot efficiency let them down in contrast to a "clinical" Ballygunner. But he had no complaints about their application and vowed that they would set about trying to bridge the gap to Sunday's winners.
"Every final that you play, it's really hard to take if you lose it," he said.
"We came up here and we were brave against what is obviously the best team in Ireland now at the moment.
"(Ballygunner) have proven that and they have the bar set very high and we have to get up to it.
"That's our next mission. We'll try very hard to do that but it's a very, very high bar."
Kelly added: "We always knew they were a fantastic club. Everybody in Ireland, any hurling man that's here talking, if you're talking about great hurling clubs even before today, (Ballygunner) didn't have to win that second All-Ireland to become a great team.
"They are a great team anyway and our lads aren't so bad either. We might have lost today, we might be a little bit disappointed with how we performed - would've liked to have performed better - but we didn't.
"You get your day to do that and we didn't do it on the day. You get your chance (and) you either take it or you're not."
Kelly also said the situation around midfielder Cullen Killeen's availability pre-match was not a factor behind the final loss. The player was subsequently cleared to play after a Disputes Resolution Authority hearing on Friday night successfully overturned the red card he picked up in the semi-final against Sleacht Néill.
"We'd plans - Plan A, Plan B and Plan C and D even - but we ended up going with Plan A with Cullie playing," Kelly said.
"And he's a great kid and he didn't deserve what happened to him and he didn't deserve to have to go the last four weeks trying to clear his name. It was wrong."
