"No soft thoughts" as Ballygunner brace themselves for four-in-a-row bid

The Big Match coverage comes with thanks to George Corbett Skoda.

Ballygunner are one game away from another piece of history, but there's no fear of any 'soft thoughts' creeping in ahead of this Sunday's Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship Final against Sarsfields of Cork.

The Gunners have won their last 11 games in a row in the province - as they bid to become the first side ever to win four successive titles at senior level. They also have the added incentive of knowing that victory will propel them to top of the all-time podium, surpassing Blackrock of Cork as the outright kings of Munster.

A lot has been said and many are expecting a procession at Semple Stadium come 3:15pm on Sunday, December 1st - but Ballygunner boss Darragh O'Sullivan is not one of them. He says it's being treated the same as any other game.

"It is exactly. We've been really, really good in the past, just concentrating on the next game, not looking back too far, not looking forward too far, and that's served us well in the past, and that's what we'll continue to do."

Last year, Ballygunner dismantled the Sars with a sense of consummate ease in the Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship quarter-final, swatting them aside on a 2-20 to 0-09 scoreline. Sars have since bounced back, beating Feakle of Clare last time out to become the first Cork side to win at Munster senior level since Glen Rovers in 2016 - and O'Sullivan says that game last season will count for nothing come throw-in.

"Listen, we played Sarsfields, I'd say every year bar this year, in challenge games and in Munster. We played a Munster club game last year, but the challenge games we would have played against them, you know, we would have got lessons in some of those games, to be honest with you. We understand the challenge that we're coming up against on Sunday. I think all the games we played against Sarsfields over the last five, six years, the only outlier in that was probably the Munster club game last year. Every other game we played against them, there wasn't a whole lot between the two teams."

While Ballygunner's success has been a constant over the years - new faces are coming into the frey. The likes of Cormac Power, Conor Tobin and company have been knocking on the door - and O'Sullivan says having healthy competition within the club can only be a positive development.

"Those lads are really, really good lads that have energised the older players. That's what the older players want, they want to be pushed by these younger players coming through. Some of them may not have got as much game time as what they would have hoped. They're working really, really hard. I think that we're stronger this year from a panel perspective than we ever have been. The appetite is still there, the lads are working really, really hard."

Some bookmakers have offered quotes of 1/16 - and many are convinced that this is all but secured. That outside noise has never been entertained by Ballygunner, and it never will be.

"We'll have no soft thoughts coming into this match. We know what we need to do. We're going to have to be right up there with our best performance of the year to get over the line on Sunday. We're looking forward to that challenge. They're going to give us a different challenge than some of the other teams have given us. Sarsfields are really good at working the ball, they're really, really quick, they're athletic, and they're going to cause us a lot of trouble, and we're expecting a huge challenge."

A potential All-Ireland Club Championship semi-final awaits against the Ulster champions - as the Gunners look to be favourites to lift a second national title. That thought won't cross anyone's mind for the time being.

"Every club team in the country wants to be in the All-Ireland Series if they can get there. We'd have targets the whole way along. It could be the group games in the Waterford Championship, the knockout games, the final, and then we go into Munster. Like I said earlier, we're really, really good at focusing on what's important. That's the next match."

Ballygunner versus Sarsfields is our George Corbett Skoda Big Match this Sunday on WLR - join Tomas McCarthy and Michael Ryan LIVE from Semple Stadium after the 3pm news.

The Big Match coverage comes with thanks to George Corbett Skoda.