Stephen Bennett (born 8 October 1995) is an Irish hurler who plays for Waterford Intermediate Championship club

Ballysaggart Ballysaggart is a village in County Waterford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Amenities It has a Catholic church, public house, shop, garage and petrol filling station as well as a GAA playing field and civic amenity site. Access The village is ...

and at inter-county level with the

Waterford senior hurling team The Waterford county hurling team represents County Waterford, Waterford in hurling and is governed by Waterford GAA, the County board (Gaelic games), county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual i ...

. He usually lines out as a full-forward.

Playing career

Blackwater Community School

Bennett first came to prominence as a hurler with

Blackwater Community School Blackwater Community School ( ga, Pobalscoil na hAbhann Móire) (BCS) is a co-educational, multi-denominational community school in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. The school offers Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate programmes. It ...

in Lismore. He played in every grade of hurling and enjoyed some success. On 23 November 2011, Bennett scored ten points for Blackwater CS in their 0-11 to 0-08 defeat of Dungarvan Community School to win the Dean Ryan Cup. He also spent four years with the Blackwater CS senior hurling team in the Dr. Harty Cup.

University of Limerick

During his studies at the University of Limerick, Bennett was selected for the college's senior hurling team. On 11 March 2015, he came on as a substitute to win a Fitzgibbon Cup medal as UL defeated the Waterford Institute of Technology by 2-18 to 1-14 in a replay of the final at Páirc Uí Rinn.

Ballysaggart

Bennett first played hurling at juvenile and underage levels with Naomh Carthach, an amalgamation of

and Lismore. He eventually joined Ballysaggart's top adult team. On 27 October 2013, he scored 1-12 when Ballysaggart defeated

Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. With humble origins as a small fishing village, the area saw rapid development upon the arrival of the railway from Waterford City in 1853. Initially, the to ...

by 1-18 to 1-09 to win the Waterford Junior Championship. On 8 December, he lined out at full-forward against Feenagh-Kilmeedy in the final of the Munster Championship. He top scored with 1-07 and collected a winners' medal after the 3-12 to 0-15 victory. On 8 February 2014, Ballysaggart faced

Creggan Kickhams Kickhams GAC Creggan, founded in 1924, is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Creggan, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The club provides Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies football for all age groups from under-10s to senior ...

in the All-Ireland final. Bennett top scored with 2-07 in the 5-12 to 2-21 draw. The replay on 15 February saw Bennett score 1-01 in the 1-07 to 1-11 defeat for Ballysaggart.

Waterford

Minor and under-21

Bennett first played for

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

when he was selected for the minor team in advance of the 2012 Munster Championship. He made his first appearance on 2 May when he scored seven points in a 1-20 to 3-13 extra-time defeat by

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

. Waterford's championship ended with a defeat by

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

at the semi-final stage, however, Bennett ended the season as Waterford's top scorer with 0-12. Bennett was eligible for the minor grade again the following year. On 23 July 2013, he scored 3-02 when Waterford suffered a 1-20 to 4-08 defeat by

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in the Munster Championship final. On 8 September, Bennett lined out at right wing-forward when Waterford faced

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the All-Ireland final. He scored four points from play in the 1-21 to 0-16 victory. After progressing onto the Waterford under-21 team, Bennett made his first appearance for the team on 16 July 2014. He scored a point after coming on as a substitute in a 3-18 to 0-16 defeat by

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. On 27 July 2016, Bennett lined out in his first Munster Championship final. He scored 1-01 from right corner-forward in the 2-19 to 0-15 defeat of Tipperary. On 10 September, Bennett was moved to full-forward for the All-Ireland final against Galway. He scored two goals in the 5-15 to 0-14 victory and collected a winners' medal in what was his last game in the grade. Bennett ended the season by being named Player of the Year.

Senior

Bennett was just 18-years-old when he was added to the Waterford senior team. He made his first appearance on 19 July 2014 when he came on as a 62nd-minute substitute for

Liam Lawlor Liam Lawlor (1 October 1945 – 22 October 2005) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He resigned from the Fianna Fáil in 2000 following a finding by a party standards committee that he had failed to co-operate with its investigation into pla ...

in a 3-15 to 2-15 defeat by

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

. On 3 May 2015, Bennett was a late change to the Waterford team that faced Cork in the 2015 National League final. He scored a point from left corner-forward and collected a winners' medal after the 1-24 to 0-17 victory. On 12 July 2015, Bennett lined out at right corner-forward in the Munster Championship final but was substituted by his brother

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in the 0-21 to 0-16 defeat. In November 2015, it was announced that Bennett would miss the

2016 National Hurling League The 2016 National Hurling League was the 85th season of the National Hurling League for inter-county hurling teams since its establishment in 1925. The fixtures were announced on 16 November 2015. The season began on 13 February 2016, and finishe ...

after undergoing two hip operations. He made his return to the Waterford team on 5 June 2016 when he came on as a late substitute for Michael Walsh in a 1-21 to 0-17 defeat of Clare. On 10 July, Bennett was an unused substitute when Waterford suffered a 5-19 to 0-13 defeat by Tipperary in the Munster Championship final. On 3 September 2017, Bennett was an unused substitute when Waterford faced Galway in the All-Ireland final. Waterford eventually lost the game by 0-26 to 2-17.

Career statistics

Honours

;Blackwater Community School *Dean Ryan Cup: 2011 ;University of Limerick * Fitzgibbon Cup:

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;Ballysaggart *

Waterford Intermediate Hurling Championship Waterford Intermediate Hurling Championship is a second-tier hurling competition organised by the Waterford Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The winning club progresses to the senior grade the following year for the Waterford Senior H ...

: 2019 *

Munster Junior Club Hurling Championship The Munster Junior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Junior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and conteste ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Waterford Junior Hurling Championship Waterford Junior Hurling Championship is the third-tier hurling competition organized by the Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The competition is confined to clubs in Waterford in Ireland. The winners usually will play i ...

: 2013 ;Waterford *

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

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* All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship:

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* Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship:

* All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship:

;Awards * All-Star Award: 2020 * All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Top Scorer: 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Stephen 1995 births Living people Ballysaggart hurlers Waterford inter-county hurlers All Stars Awards winners (hurling)