KILLINAN END - Huge prize for ‘Dangan and Clonlara

Luck of the draw is certainly on Kiladangan's side as they venture beyond the county. No guarantees of course and the Clare champions have always been a vigorous test for any opponent. Last year, Kilruane MacDonaghs faced an away game with Ballygunner and then a potential semi-final with Na Piarsaigh - two clubs that between them had won six of the previous ten Munster Finals and met each other in three of them. In contrast, Kilruane had contested and won the club's only County Final in 36 years. While 'lambs to the slaughter' is hardly a phrase you'd ever associate with Kilruane it was a huge mountain to climb. That – an away quarter-final - was the fate that awaited the unfortunate Sarsfields from Cork whose pitch was wiped out in the recent flooding in Glanmire.

This club gave the Munster club championship trophy its name. He was Billy O'Neill, a founder member and driving force behind the Sarsfields club in its fledgling years. They might be appropriate winners of the trophy in time to come - the club of Teddy McCarthy and Paddy Barry the elder. Much has been made of the beating that Ballygunner gave Sarsfields as a possible indicator of the poverty of Cork hurling. In reality, Ballygunner have given severe beatings to many teams. Their ten-in-a-row County Finals in Waterford featured only one winning margin less than eight points. That was back in the 2015 final before the current Gunners’ generation really got into their stride.

Chances are Cork’s Sarsfields would be a match for any other team in Waterford so if the last post is to be played for Cork hurling on the basis of this one scoreline better that it is kept low and discreet. It may not count for much in high summer. Loughmore/Castleiney gave Ballygunner lots of it a couple of years ago down in Dungarvan and had they been able to keep their full complement of players on the pitch for the duration who knows how it might have transpired? In 2019 Borris-Ileigh beat defending champions Ballygunner who again had not dipped under the eight-point winning margin in their two games earlier in the campaign against Sixmilebridge and Patrickswell. Not forgetting that Thurles Sarsfields too beat Ballygunner back in 2016.

Any team can be tested to breaking point by an opponent that believes and is not beaten leaving the dressing-room. At the very least the defending Munster champions will face a test on Sunday against Na Piarsaigh. This pairing has developed into quite the rivalry in recent years. Three Munster Finals and last year’s semi-final with two wins each shows how even it has been. That said, there is a sense that Ballygunner are still on the up. Sunday will test that further. While their games stand at 2-2 it is a reality for Na Piarsaigh that the Waterford team has won the last two matches between them. Lose this and they might be considered to have lost their grip on the elite stratum of club hurling which they took to with such ease from the start.

Of course, a harsh critic might argue that in the current game there is one elite team which is Shamrocks Ballyhale and the rest have much to prove. It would be hard to quibble with that and winning five consecutive titles in Kilkenny plus several All-Irelands was an extraordinary feat. They may not be done yet despite a narrow county final defeat this year but when you see the monumental hurdle this competition has proven for many teams you have to raise your hat to this extraordinary parish.

St Thomas’ of Galway recently won a sixth successive County title to equal Turloughmore’s record from the 1960s. To put that achievement in another context – the great Portumna team managed just a three-in-a-row with their other two titles one-offs. However, Thomas’ outside reputation has not been gilt-edged like Portumna’s. They have reached just one All-Ireland final during that run despite not having the inconvenience of a provincial campaign. You can just imagine how much this one itches them over those long winters given the history of success the county has had in this competition going back to Castlegar in 1980. It will be difficult for them to shake off history’s judgement on this one.

Kiladangan may have another type of judgement to measure. Big claims require big evidence. Is it a club which has been hard done by in relation to Tipperary teams? It was an opinion which had every entitlement to be aired whatever misgivings there might be about its time and place. But it will invite assessment. Playing in Thurles will do the Tipp champions no harm at all but Clonlara of the Galvin’s and John Conlon won six from six in the Clare championship and will be a hard nut to crack. However, the prospect of a Munster Final place and the potential that springs from that should hopefully coax a massive display from Kiladangan. If they get that anything is possible.