Gunners hell-bent on righting their wrongs
Paddy Leavey will be hoping for another big performance in Ballygunner black and red. Photo: ©INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon
For the umpteenth winter in a row, Ballygunner find themselves exactly where they expect to be - deep in the trenches of Munster, with silverware in sight and a familiar sense of inevitability beginning to settle around them.
But unlike years gone by, there’s a dash of edge to proceedings this time.
The Waterford kingpins were stung twelve months ago, and if recent outings are anything to go by, they’ve carried that hurt with them like fuel.
Their semi-final display last time out against Sarsfields was as authoritative as you’ll see in a provincial campaign: structured, smart, and laced with just enough ruthlessness to remind the rest of the province that, yes, Ballygunner are still Ballygunner.
They were questioned earlier in the season - almost heretical when you think about what this group has achieved - but the response has come in heavy doses. And now they stand an hour or so away from reclaiming a Munster title they still believe never should have slipped from their grasp.
Éire Óg, for their part, are no passengers.
They’ve carved their way here with grit and ambition, and the Clare champions carry themselves with the kind of swagger that only comes from knocking off big names along the way.
But meeting Ballygunner at this stage is something else entirely. It’s stepping into a furnace where the heat doesn’t just scorch - it exposes. And that is where Ballygunner thrive. Many have tried, many have died.
The spine of this team remains outrageously strong. The Mahonys, Dessie Hutchinson and Peter Hogan continue to dictate affairs with a calmness that borders on arrogant assurance, while Pauric’s scoring radar looks as sharp as ever.
Add in the relentless running of the middle third - the wave after wave of bodies who turn puckouts into chaos and broken play into punishment - and you quickly realise that this group have rediscovered the snarl that made them kings of Ireland not so long ago.
What’s more, they now look freer. Last year’s exit seemed to cling to them for a period, an unwanted ghost. But in the last two outings, they’ve shaken it off completely.
You can see it in the crispness of their hurling, the directness of their movement, and the unmistakable glint in their eyes whenever the goal opens up.
This is a team that believes again. Fresh enthusiasm, renewed hunger, endless possibilities.
Éire Óg will ask questions, of course. They have enough pace, enough craft, enough nous to create moments that could tilt momentum their way. But moments aren’t enough against Ballygunner.
You need sustained brilliance, sustained pressure, and sustained accuracy - and few, if any, in Munster have managed to hold that line for sixty minutes against them.
While it’ll be closer than many think, I still reckon it won’t be close enough.
The crowd will travel in force, as they always do. The red and black tend to turn any venue into something resembling a home fixture, and that alone brings a wave of energy you can almost measure in decibels.
It feels, then, like the stars are aligning once more.
Ballygunner look hungry, angry, united - and crucially, ready. The Munster title slipped away last year. I highly doubt it will again.
