BALLYGUNNER MANAGER Darragh O’Sullivan can’t wait for the collision of “two juggernauts” when his All-Ireland champions meet Limerick kingpins Na Piarsaigh in the Munster semi-final.

A 17-point dressing down of Kilruane MacDonaghs paved the way for that repeat of the 2018 Munster final, won by the Waterford side, and they’ll be arriving into the rematch in flying form.

They scored 4-16 from play in Sunday’s quarter-final, with their bench adding 1-3 of that total, but a sterner test awaits two weeks down the line and two hours up the road.

“It’s a huge match for both clubs. If you look back at the teams who have won Munster championships over the last few years, they’ve won four and we’ve won three,” said O’Sullivan.

“In fairness, it’s two juggernauts coming up against each other. It’s very pleasing and something to look forward to — to get the opportunity to do this as a club. For Ballygunner to go into the Gaelic Grounds to take on one of the best teams in the country is exciting.

“We’ll prepare in the exact same fashion as we always prepare. It’s served us well in the past and that’s what we’ll do again.”

When you’ve been there and done that, as Ballygunner have, you have blueprints for such occasions.

This quarter-final mirrored their return to action last year against Ballyea. Eight weeks out of action shrugged off with 23 scores and a carbon-copy 17-point margin of victory.

“The lads put the shoulder to the wheel and the preparation was very similar to last year against Ballyea so we had that blueprint. We got a huge performance against Ballyea in Ennis last year so we understood the way to do it and to get that performance.

“In fairness to the lads, day in, day out, they keep performing and they did it again, which was very satisfactory.”

Patrick Fitzgerald’s goal on the stroke of half-time made it 1-11 to 0-7 at the break. Ballygunner, having chosen to go against the wind from the start, knew they had victory within their grasp at the break.

“The goal before half-time probably put the game to bed. That’s really what happened,” said O’Sullivan.

“We came out in the second half and were seven up, kept our composure, tacked on a few points, and knew we weren’t going to lose.”

On the talk that Kilruane’s packed schedule would catch up with them, O’Sullivan said: “We didn’t look at the expectation. You might think, ‘Yeah, they might run out of gas in the end’, but they ran out of gas probably because we took the momentum from them.

“If they were still in that game, I’m sure they would have found gas somewhere and if you look at their county final win against Kiladangan, at half-time in that match you’re probably thinking there’s only going to be one winner but they put in some second-half performance there after the week previous.

“They’re a tremendous club and I said it in the dressing room. The way they have carried themselves both on and off the field with the things they had to deal with this year, the sad passing of Dillon [Quirke], it’s amazing and they’re a testament to what’s good in the GAA because the way they have carried themselves has been an inspiration to all clubs. They should be very, very proud of that.”

The week passed by in a “blur” for Kilruane manager Liam O’Kelly but given the year the Tipperary champions have experienced, it didn’t take him long to find perspective for this defeat.

“It’s been a fabulous journey all year. We’d a lot of challenges on the way. We’ve made an awful lot of friends. We’ve developed great bonds with a lot of people.

“Last Monday night, Dillon’s mam and dad were up with us. Declan Ryan and the wife were up with us. There were 11 of the Clonoulty boys above in the bar drinking with us in Cloughjordan. Who would have said that at the start of the year?

“That’s what we’re about as a club. We want to build friendships and relationships. Sport is sport and sport will always continue but friends are for life.

“It was a fantastic night on Monday and on Tuesday, we had a get-together with Kiladangan inside in a pub in Nenagh. We all came together.

“We’ve a bus journey home and I’ve no idea when that bus will get home. I told the players this morning, ‘Don’t bring your car because you won’t be driving your car home tonight’.

“That’s the way we are. On the field, we’re good. Off the field, we’re very, very good.”

Losing two key defenders, Aaron Morgan and Niall O’Meara, to injuries made their task at Walsh Park all the greater. O’Meara had limped through the second half of a man-of-the-match display in last Sunday’s county final but O’Kelly revealed that Morgan had also been playing through the pain barrier.

“Aaron Morgan has been one of the finds of the year. He has played the last four games with a broken finger and unfortunately, today, whatever happened the hand, maybe he broke two fingers. I don’t know really. He’s gone to hospital now. We’ll know the extent in an hour’s time. But he was an awful loss to us.

“We’re playing a junior football semi-final next Saturday and I guarantee you, Niall O’Meara will be the first man that will want to be on the pitch next Saturday night.”

While Sunday brought an end to Kilruane’s hurling odyssey for 2022, O’Kelly took the opportunity to give game-time to four youngsters, with Carl Williams, Eoin Carroll, Rory Grace, and Rob Austin seeing action.

“We enjoyed our few days. We came back training Wednesday night, we trained Thursday night, we met yesterday. I emptied the bench and brought on three or four subs there who’ve never played senior hurling. Their first bit of senior hurling was against Ballygunner. What better place to blood them in than today?

“When I was bringing off some of the senior players the crowd erupted. You’d think we were winning the game. That’s the team our guys are. But let’s be honest, we’d three hard weeks. Three hard games in three weeks. It takes its toll on the players.”