Roanmore are aiming to create some history this weekend when they face Ballygunner in the senior hurling county final.
The Skyblues last took part in a county final in 1990 when they claimed their second straight title - having won the previous year in 1989.
Since the dawn of the '90s, the club has been absent from the showpiece game, but that all changed with their semi-final success over Dungarvan last weekend.
Manager Peter Queally can now boast to have guided four separate teams to the final, but it's clearly not something to the forefront of his mind as when asked about it by WLR Sport following the semi-final, he wasn't aware of the stat.
Ballygunner are now aiming to claim the News & Star cup for the eighth straight year, having come good in the last seven outings against Passage, De La Salle, Abbeyside, Tallow, and Mt. Sion.
The last time they were beaten in a final was 2013, when Queally's Passage side claimed the trophy on a scoreline of 3-16 to 3-13. Former Waterford hurler Eoin Kelly was on the field for Passage that day and he says that performances in recent weeks from the defending champions have shown that continued success for the club has bred a calmness and surety of purpose.
"Ballygunner didn't panic. I think a lot of the shooting was probably not the best and I suppose the same the week before against Passage, that was a one-point hammering really for Passage. They should have been well beaten. They were kind of panic shooting and I think Ballygunner are not going to do that. They're not gonna panic at all even if there were two points down going into injury time - They're not going to panic"
While many will say that eight straight years of dominance provides for a lacklustre level of entertainment in the championship. All other teams are capable of beating one another, while in recent years Ballygunner have been well out of sight by the time the full-time whistle is blown. This year a change has been seen with Ballygunner being challenged in more games than before. Abbeyside and Mt Sion didn't take defeat lying down and Sion had a real chance of taking the win late on in Walsh Park. Kelly acknowledges that the gap is reducing between the standard-bearers and the chasing pack.
"Ballygunner can have an off day and they'll still hold on by a couple of points. This year it's getting a lot closer. I just think it's down to a changing of the gaurd in some respect to some of the Ballygunner players and the fellas that are missing through injury so it was an ideal year to catch them. I don't see it happening this weekend though."
Coming into Sunday's game without featuring in a final since their last county title, Roanmore are wading into unfamiliar territory with the dominant force of the Gunners. Their campaign got off to a poor start against Passage, with manager Queally noting that they didn't get out of the stands for the first 10 minutes. If we take the notion that 'not every loss is bad', Kelly thinks that the opening day heartache for Roanmore could well be the best thing for them in the long run.
"Roanmore have learned from that game and they've changed what they needed to change, with Billy going back. It was probably the kick in the backside they needed and they got it early on where they could regroup and come back. They were one game away from relegation or one game away from being county champions. So, that's how fast it's after changing."
When it comes to predicting the outcome, most are still picking the obvious result. Ballygunner to win, and by some margin. Around Walsh Park and Fraher Field in recent weeks, the phrase thrown around was that 'If you're going to beat them, you'll need to beat them before a final'. You can take it that most Roanmore fans will hear that and let in in one ear and out the other, but for Kelly who is one of the players to have last beaten them in a final, he thinks that the "Obvious" result is still most likely to play out this Sunday in Walsh Park.
"If you go through the past seven years who have they beaten? The've beaten ourselves [Passage] twice, they beat Mt Sion, they've beat Tallow, they beaten Dungarvan. They're after beating everyone. Whatever challenge comes to them in Waterford they can deal with it, they deal with a a different way of the team playing and they just have too many scorers I think. For Roanmore to win I think they will need three to four goals and I don't see where they're going to come from"
You can hear more from Eoin on the WLR hurling Podcast here
