Ballygunner's Dessie Hutchinson pictured at the launch of the AIB Club Championships.
By Cian O’Connell
“I don't think the neighbours knew what was going on,” Dessie Hutchinson laughs about the puck arounds which took place amongst the Irish youngsters, who were playing for Brighton & Hove Albion.
That was an interesting spell in Hutchinson’s life, but the current sporting brief is maintaining Ballygunner’s relevance in the AIB Munster Club Hurling Championship.
Since returning from the United Kingdom, Hutchinson has kept himself busy featuring for Waterford footballers under Benji Whelan and making an impact in Ballygunner’s red and black.
GAA matters, though, often dominated the youngsters discussions in the south of England with current Republic of Ireland international Aaron Connolly and the promising Jayson Molumby willing participants.
“He came a couple of years after me, but I took him in under my wing a small bit over there,” Hutchinson says about Connolly, who hurled in Galway for the famous Castlegar club.
“Obviously he came from a GAA family himself so it was nice. We had another lad from Waterford, Jayson Molumby, his brother has played a lot of hurling. So there was a few of us.”
Ultimately, it is why Hutchinson was delighted to accept an invitation from Whelan to play football for Waterford in 2019.
Dessie Hutchinson played for the Waterford footballers in 2019.
“It was brilliant, it was a new lease of life for me to be honest,” Hutchinson admits. “I was coming from a professional background and I was straight in with Ballygunner.
“Then Benji Whelan the Waterford football manager gave me a ring in February I think it was, as soon as we were finished with Ballygunner, and he asked me would I like to come in.
“So I went in and it was great, I played the remainder of the league and came on against Clare in the Munster Championship, started the qualifier then against Westmeath. So it was all positive and it was another great experience.”
Considering Hutchinson’s exploits with Ballygunner, including a 1-3 salvo in the Waterford decider against De La Salle, would an opportunity to play inter-county hurling capture his imagination?
“It's definitely something I've thought about and it's something I want to do so hopefully that will come in its own time but at the moment I'm just concentrating on Ballygunner and going as far as we can in that,” Hutchinson responds.
“After last year we were so close to getting to Paddy's Day and we want to get to the All-Ireland final this year but we know we've huge tasks ahead of us first.”
In Waterford there remains a tradition of players featuring in both codes at club level. “There is and I love playing Gaelic football,” Hutchinson states.
Dessie Hutchinson impressed for Ballygunner in the Waterford SHC Final.
“In our own club in Gaultier, we're a proud little village. We don't have huge numbers, but we get through it and love playing with them. It's tough. We have no football club in Ballygunner.
“It's kind of in the mix between Ballygunner and Passage, it's in Dunmore East - it's hard to get players at times.
“We're coming, we've got a young team at the moment. We were beaten by Rathgormack in the quarter-final by two points and they went on and won the championship at the weekend. We're not too far away.”
Ballygunner face an awkward assignment away to Sixmilebridge on November 3. “We won it last year, but there's been no talk of retaining the title,” Hutchinson remarks.
“It's just about Sixmilebridge. We know it's going to be a tough battle going down there, especially in their own club ground, I think it is.
“You see the experience they have, they have All-Ireland winners. They have Davy Fitz as a selector. There's huge experience down there.”
Ballygunner aren’t short on character and craft either with Hutchinson emerging as a leading figure in this particular Waterford success story.