Ballygunner could end this weekend in new territory.
The eight-time Waterford champions, who can now boast three Munster titles have never managed to break through and claim an All-Ireland.
The roll of honour of clubs who have climbed that summit makes for impressive reading with the all-conquering Ballyhale Shamrocks boasting as many All-Irelands as Ballygunner have concurrent Waterford titles, while Birr & Portumna have three each, Athenry, Blackrock and James Stephens all have three.
Plenty of clubs have claimed two Tommy Moore Cups with St. Finbarr's of Togher, Thurles Sarsfields, Glen Rovers, Loughgiel Shamrocks and Cuala making up that list.
De La Salle and Mt Sion are the only Waterford teams to have featured in finals (2009 v Portumna & 1982 v James Stephens) but that's as far as the Deise interests have gone.
The Waterford Champs
Ballygunner have been wholly impressive in their run-up to this point. They might have been pushed close by Mt. Sion in the county semi-final, but since then they have swatted away anyone who would dare to try and beat them.
Roanmore, Ballyea, Loughmore-Castleiney, and Kilmallock have all been dealt with ruthless efficiency, to such an extent that some voices around Waterford have described the Munster final performance against the Limerick champions as one of the greatest club hurling performances of our lifetimes.
This weekend, a new challenge is presented to Darragh O Sullivan's team.
Speaking ahead of the game, Mikey Mahony has said that they cant take the Ulster champions lightly, "Any team that has a winning culture is going to be hard to break down. They have a number of players in the Derry football squad as well, so they're all playing at a high level. We're under no illusions as to what we're going to face on Sunday. It's going to be a massive challenge up in Parnell Park."
Their Ulster opponents
The Derry champions Slaughtneil will make the trip south the Parnell Park to meet the Gunners in a winner takes all clash, with the reward of Croke Park and a chance of claiming the most coveted prize of the lot.
Michael McShane has so far guided his team through their club games and in the process claimed their ninth successive Derry Championship. They beat Kevin Lynch's by five points in their county decider, and then went on to an eight-point win over Dunloy Cuchullains (Antrim) in the Ulster semi, before claiming the provincial crown when they beat Down's Ballycran 1.14 to 0.10 at Corrigan Park.
The Robbies have previously fallen short at the semi-final stage on three occasions with Cuala (2017), Na Piarsaigh (2018) and Ballyhale (2020) all stopping their charge.
Their captain Cormac O' Doherty has told The Irish News this week that the team are all too aware of the danger posed by the Gunners, “Eight Waterford titles in-a-row, two of the last four Munster titles, you saw how they dismantled Kilmallock last week… we’re under no illusions how good this Ballygunner team is."
New Territory
By Monday morning, one team will have done something that they have never done before, while the other will have been left with a long and quite journey home with the realisation that they are still to break the semi-final hoodoo.
It remains to be seen which club will throw off those shackles and claim their spot in Croke Park.
