It's coming down to the wire in the senior hurling championship with the finalists to be decided on Sunday afternoon in Walsh Park.
Ballygunner continue their march towards a ninth consecutive title, with last year's runners-up Roanmore hoping to stop that roll.
The defending Waterford, Munster, and All-Ireland Champions are now 46 games unbeaten in the county having waltzed through the group stages and quarter-finals. Roanmore meanwhile have been the team that everybody expected to once again get to the final, but if they are to pull it off, they are very much going to have to go the hard route.
In last year's decider, the Sky Blues were comfortably dispatched by 20 points as the Gunners headed off on their Munster campaign. Their manager Peter Queally has been telling WLR Sport about how they dealt with that loss.
"I asked them straight out what was the most disappointing thing about last year, and they all agreed it was performance. That was the one thing that gauls them - that they didn't perform. The big thing going into this game is that we are looking for a performance. We're zoning and focussing in on getting a good performance and seeing where that takes us."
Having had a few quarter-final defeats in previous campaigns Roanmore had aimed to make amends for their early departures when they lined out against Lismore in last year's championship. A thrilling game played out in Fraher Field with Queally's charges dispatching the Westerners. That result was followed by a win over Dungarvan which booked their place in a first final in 30 years.
"Rather than dwell on the county final when the year ended, we focussed in on the positives so it was very easy to motivate the group and get back training."
Wins over Lismore, Dunhill and Abbeyside have Roanmore well placed to challenge Ballygunner, but it remains to be seen will the title holders have to much in the tank for the challengers.
"What do Roanmore do? They work really hard all over the field" said Gunners boss Darragh O' Sullivan when he sat down to chat with WLR Sport this week. O' Sullivan elaborated on the point, saying that they have moved their team around to an extent and that if his players are going to come out top, they will have to match the pace and intensity offered by Roanmore.
It would be understandable if the all-conquering Gunners had taken their foot off the gas after so many dominant campaigns, but in this instance, nothing could be further from the truth. They have put teams to the sword at every opportunity and the hunger in the players is as evident as it ever was.
"They're a phenomenal bunch of guys and they set huge standards for themselves. They understand that if they can't meet those standards, then they wont be part of the group" said O'Sullivan. Keeping the squad fresh and providing food for thought for the established squad has been to the forefront of his thinking, saying that the young guns energise the group. "If they want to stay on the field they need to be ticking all the boxes. We've seen no let-up in work rate, so we're hopeful that we can continue that trend".
With the ninth straight title up for grabs, Ballygunner are well and truly a targeted team. Every side wants to be the one that takes a scalp, but none have figured out how to pull it off yet. Carrying that mantle - while not easy - is something that O' Sullivan's team have managed with style. "We've had that taregt on our back for a long time and we're used to it. The target may be a little bigger now because we've won national titles but we're very good as resetting and focussing on the next game. We know teams are going to raise their game coming to play us so we try to make sure we're at the top of our levels to try to combat that."
The other side of the draw is another all-Eastern affair. Mt Sion and De La Salle will fight it out in the second of the two semis. Salle are without a final appearance since 2019, while it's been 8 years since Sion were in the mix.
Of all the teams still involved, Sion came closest to toppling the Gunners in last year's semi, but close does not yield any cigars. A chance to level proceedings in the dying seconds went a-begging as Alan Kirwan turned down the chance for a point, and instead opted for goal only to see the ball flash wide.
This Sunday, the two teams who know each other better than anybody else will lock horns at the city ground hoping to buy a ticket to the decider once again. Manager John Meaney is hoping that the confidence-boosting run they've been on will be enough to carry them over the line.
"The form is good. You can't deny that. Going into the match against Lismore last Saturday, you can never know what's going to happen. We handled it, while probably starting a bit slow but when we got to grips with it - from the 19th minute to half time we scored 1.11 to 0.2, that's probably where we won the game."
The talismanic Austin Gleeson has been central to Sion's performances this year. The captain has lead from the front, scoring 1.6 last time out. While Gleeson is crucial to Meaney's hopes, the manager points out that the driving force in the team is coming from the younger squad members.
"It's our younger players that are driving this as well. Austin Gleeson won't win this game for us on Sunday. We need everybody playing, and everybody is putting their shoulder to the wheel."
If Mt. Sion are to be stopped, De La Salle have been charged with that task. Ian Flynn will have been delighted to find out that Jack Fagan is available for selection having been cleared to play after his red card in the win over Dungarvan was successfully appealed to the Waterford Hearings Committee last night.
It's been a great season for Flynn's men who have beaten Passage, Tallow and Dungarvan on their way to the last four. The spine of the team consists of inter-county stars such as Shane McNulty, Kevin Moran, and of course, Fagan.
While the established senior players have been pivotal, Flynn points out the impact of some of the younger guns who have been to the fore - notably Reuben Halloran.
"Reuben is still very young in his career and to be fair, at the start of the year he was told he wouldn't hurl due to this injury. He's so professional in everything he does and he got back ahead of schedule. It was a massive boost having him this year because we were told at the start that we wouldn't have him at all."
Last year, Salle were stopped by this weekend's opponents, with Sion running out as 11-point winners. That result knocked them out of the championship and forced Flynn's side into a relegation play-off with Ballysaggart. While revenge is an easy word to throw about, it's not something that Flynn says is on their mind.
"It was last year. It was a different game. We've just tried to focus on ourselves all this week and try to bring our own A-game. It's about bringing a performance on Sunday. We feel the lads are ready to give that performance and whether it will be good enough or not -time will tell."
WLR will be bringing you both semi finals live this weekend, with all our coverage thanks to George Corbett Skoda.
We will be on air from 12.30 with build-up to both games and then our on air commentary starts just after the news at 1 o clock.
Kieran O' Connor and Brian Flannery will be in the commentary box for Ballygunner and Roanmore, with Tomás McCarthy and Stephen Frampton taking the reigns for Mt Sion and De La Salle.
