'I remember thinking Ballygunner would never get to Munster finals' 

Ballygunner joint-captain Mikey Mahony is by no means taking their success for granted having secured a place in the Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship Final for the eighth year running.

Mahony was a livewire throughout Sunday’s 4-18 to 2-17 victory against Sarsfields at Azzurri Walsh Park, and credited a lot to putting things right following defeat at the hands of the same opposition last year.

“We knew we were in for a big test”, said Mahony. “You see what happened to us last year, we probably felt we didn’t show up and calling it as it is - we got run off the pitch. We’ve put a big emphasis on this and thankfully, we’re over the line again.” The firepower of the forwards will grab the plaudits, but Mahony was keen to highlight the defensive togetherness and work rate as key catalysts for victory.

“We played with a big breeze in that first half and thankfully we were able to capitalise on that or else you’re chasing things from there - you can talk about our forwards but the backs were incredible today like always. We had a lot of hurt from last year but you take it game by game or else you get caught out. We’ll enjoy the win today but it’s all about two weeks’ time.” In two weeks time, Jason Ryan’s men will go up against Eire Óg Inis of Clare in the provincial decider. Mahony will never lose sight of what it means to be involved in days of such magnitude.

“I remember being a Ballygunner supporter when I was younger and thinking Ballygunner would never get to Munster finals. When you think of stuff like that, you could never dream of getting over the line in them. Luckily, we have played in a couple of them and had success but it counts for nothing in two weeks.” The re-introduction of Pauric Mahony to the fold yielded 0-10 and Mikey noted the calming presence of his elder brother.

“Two weeks ago playing against Na Piarsaigh without Pauric was a big task for the rest of us and to get over the line up there - maybe the rest of us had to show the leadership that he has shown us in years gone by. It was brilliant to have him back in there today and even better to see a lot of those balls going over.”