John Horgan on hurling: Sars have experience and quality to match Ballygunner, even in Walsh Park
Sarsfields' Barry O'Flynn takes on Midleton in the Cork county final last month. Picture: INPHO/Tom Maher
Walsh Park in Waterford has not always been a happy hunting ground for Cork teams down through the years.
A venue should never make a whole pile of difference, of course, if you are good enough, you will be in with a very good shout at securing the right result.
But there are certain grounds spread around the country where nothing comes easy and Waterford hurling's home venue has long been perceived to be in that category.
Well, it has now become the next port of call for Cork Premier Senior Hurling champions Sarsfields as they set sail on the Munster Club championship voyage on Sunday week, when the 12-in-a-row Waterford champions Ballygunner will be hell bent on regaining the provincial title that they surrendered to Sars 12 months ago.
It's maybe a bit too early to be previewing the game but on the evidence presented by Ballygunner in their three-point victory over Limerick champions, Na Piarsaigh, the men from Riverstown will be facing a formidable task.
Last Sunday's quarter-final tie at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick between the two was an intense affair but wholly enjoyable at the same time. The Waterford and Limerick champions have developed an intense rivalry over the years, colliding with each other on six different occasions in the past 14 years.
In advance of their latest installment, the score stood at three apiece in the provincial club championship but at around five o'clock on Sunday that all changed, the Gunners had exhibited quite an amount of character to win on a scoreline of 0-18 to 0-15.
Both teams were minus a key player, Limerick star Will O'Donoghue and Waterford big gun, Pauric Mahony.
In the aftermath of the game, the main question put to the Ballugunner boss Jason Ryan was about Mahony's availability for the big showdown with Sars. His response was positive, which leads us to believe be will be back on free-taking duties again next Sunday week.
The importance of a reliable free-taker cannot ever be emphasised enough and that was evident again at the Ennis road venue when both sides were wide of the target off the placed ball, particularly in the opening half when Dessie Hutchinson missed three for Ballygunner and Kevin Downes missed a few for Na Piarsaigh.
Ballygunner led by three points at the break after a half that was no great shakes and on the resumption, they increased that advantage to five.
Particularly at this time of the season when goal chances can be difficult to construct, a five-point advantage looks healthy.
But the pendulum subsequently swung back in Na Piarsaigh's direction, they were back on level terms after 50 minutes and were ahead for the first time two minutes later.
Big questions were now being asked of the Waterford champions and the response was emphatic and a fine couple of unanswered points gave them the victory and the semi-final clash to come against Sars.
It certainly was not a classic, the deeper you go into the season the more difficult it becomes to get those type of games.
But it was still a compelling encounter, as it aged it became a desperate battle for supremacy and despite being championship inactive for the best part of two months, Ballygunner got over the line.
It had been eight weeks since they defeated Mount Sion in the final down there while Na Piarsaigh were far more recent winners in the Limerick decider against Doon.
The Sars management of Johnny Crowley and Diarmuid O'Sullivan and the rest of the selection team had the benefit of seeing first hand the team that they will play in the Munster semi-final and the side that they were just too good for in last season's final.
Having beaten them with a hugely impressive display on that Super Sunday at Semple Stadium has to be plus when their paths collide again. Y
Such is the depth of talent in the club and the continuing emergence of young talent coming up through the ranks, the transition to a new management team under Jason Ryan has been seamless. Under the baton of former boss Darragh O'Sullivan, they had become unstoppable in their own championship and he departed having built as solid a foundation as you can get.
There was fewer than three thousand souls present in the Gaelic Grounds last Sunday, 2,867 to be exact, and the likelihood is that it will be something similar when Sars visit the old Waterford home.
That's the nature of provincial club championship games, you just get the support from the participating clubs and maybe a few hundred neutrals.
Ballygunner had a number of players that will have caught the attention of the Sars management, none more so than player of the match, Harry Ruddle. Remember him? He scored the dramatic last-gasp goal in the All-Ireland club final of 2022 against Ballyhale-Shamrocks.
He was outstanding last Sunday, rifling over three terrific points while Patrick Fitzgerald's quartet of points were all worth their weight in gold on a day when goal opportunities were few and far between.
Hutchinson might have missed a few frees but his final tally of five points was very important while young newcomer Mark Hartley, the 18-year-old son of former great Fergal, had a brace alongside his name. He definitely looks a player with a very bright future ahead of him.
Stephen O'Keeffe continues to be an excellent custodian while Philip Mahony was solid throughout.
The lay-off from championship fare was obviously managed well by the new management and now in advance of the big day against Sars they have the benefit of a tough championship game under their belt.
As we stated last week, these late in the season provincial club games are a big ask for all clubs, they can be a very tough grind and you have to put to one side for a while what you achieved in your own county and focus fairly quickly on the new stage that you must perform on.
Last Sunday, Ballygunner had to dig deep to get past the Limerick champions and as we saw in the Senior A final in Cork last Saturday night between Castlelyons and Bride Rovers it was all about the closing, frenetic minutes, the winning team putting up the unanswered scores that sealed the deal.
It's over a week in the distance yet but it's going to be fascinating to observe how it all will transpire in Walsh Park next Sunday week.
And whoever prevails will surely have earned it.
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