Munster Club SHC: Sarsfields not dwelling on 2023 - or 2024

Not since an early-round defeat to De La Salle in the 2015 Waterford SHC have Ballygunner lost at Walsh Park.

You have to go back to the previous year and their Munster elimination against Clare’s Cratloe for their last reversal in a knockout game at the venue. 

Sarsfields know all about how formidable the Gunners can be on what is effectively home soil - two years ago, they were on the end of a 2-20 to 0-9 loss there.

However, as the sides renew acquaintance in Sunday’s provincial semi-final, Sars won’t be dwelling on that - but nor will they be clinging to the memory of last year’s final win against the same opposition in Thurles.

Having won a second Co-op SuperStores Premier SHC in three years with last month’s win over Midleton, the Riverstown club begin their defence of the Munster crown with as tough a proposition as could be imagined and manager Johnny Crowley is keen to take the fixture on its own merits.

“Genuinely, we take every campaign - every competition we enter, whether it's the league, the qualifiers of the county or whatever, we take that individually,” he says.

“We don't ever look back on the previous year because, in 2024, when we won in Thurles, it would have been naive of me as a manager or the management team to start reflecting back on 2013 because that could be a very negative effect.

“It's something we don't really go back to and we certainly haven't referenced 2024 or 2023 to the lads and we won’t this week.”

What they will do is prepare as best they for what will be a big step up even from what they faced in the county championship.

Before Sars beat Ballygunner in last year’s final, they were targeting an unprecedented four in a row in the province while their county championship run shows no signs of abating with the winning run currently standing at 12 straight titles.

While Sars do bring some experience from recent years, there was never a sense of taking their participation in Munster for granted.

“Even when you get to a county final, it’s still nowhere near your radar and it’s not something you talk about,” he says.

“Even last year, when we were in the county against Imokilly, it was never a case of having that cushion behind you, that you were in Munster even if you lost - that was nowhere near our mindset.

“You go and you give everything to win your county, which is so prestigious - it's such an hour to bring Seán Óg Murphy back to the club.

“Even the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it’s not really spoken about; it’s only when you’re back on the pitch and draw a line through what you’ve done.

“Winning the county is something for the memory bank and it’s great to look back on, but now we have a totally new competition and you have to really reset the whole group again and re-focus on the next game. Then, again, at the next game, it's whether there's a monster semi-final.

“It’s a great occasion, our third year in a row competing in it, so we’re really looking forward to it. We’ve prepared well but it’s a huge ask.

“Their record speaks for itself and we’re under no illusions.”