ON THE FIRST day of September, there were statements of intent issued in Dungarvan and Tralee.
In the bulk of counties, the club championships are starting to warm up as they reach the knockout stages, but in Waterford and Kerry they had reached the stage of handing out silverware.
Ballygunner’s propensity for collecting trophies is nothing new, but the manner in which they completed 11-in-a-row on Sunday afternoon was still stunning.
If there was any talk of slippage in their setup and that this year’s Waterford senior hurling championship had seen competitors move closer to the kingpins, then Ballygunner’s final display utterly smashed that perception.
The 18-point victory over Abbeyside-Ballinacourty was their second biggest winning margin in a final during this run of dominance that stretches back to 2014. They are now 58 championship games unbeaten in their local environment and produced a supreme display as they chalked up 2-28 in the Fraher Field.
Roughly 100 miles away in Austin Stack Park on Sunday, the title of club champions in Kerry was bestowed upon Dr Crokes.
The Killarney club were the undisputed masters of Kerry club football when they collected seven county championships between 2010 and 2018, completing a four-in-a-row and a three-in-a-row in that time frame.
But the 2019 Kerry final represented a changing of the guard when Dr Crokes lost by double scores to East Kerry, and they have not contested the final since then.
They have been absent from the club winners’ podium as well, explaining why this latest success was celebrated with such gusto.
The first round of this season’s club action saw Dr Crokes defeated by Dingle by six points, yet they turned the table in style to win by seven on Sunday. The personnel swing, Micheál Burns returning from Chicago for Dr Crokes and Tom O’Sullivan missing out with a hamstring problem for Dingle, undoubtedly contributed to the outcome, but there was more to it than that in the polished and dynamic display the winners produced.
The outlook for the Munster club scene takes on more interest now in light of that pair of victories. Ballygunner are guaranteed to feature on the provincial hurling scene. Dr Crokes involvement on the football stage is less certain, but the chances are now greater.
If they complete the double by starring in the Kerry county championship to add the Bishop Moynihan Cup, they will advance to Munster for the first time since 2018.
With club duties parked, Dr Crokes start out on the county championship road in the Kingdom on Saturday week, 14 September. They travel to Kenmare to take on the home team in a round 1 fixture as a new competition commences.
Their title prospects received a positive jolt by the excellence they showed in the club final, and yet even if they don’t grasp another trophy, a divisional team success will propel them into the mix as Kerry’s representatives.
The strength of the East Kerry setup and their track record in landing four of the last five titles, means they remain the market leaders that all others have to catch.
Ballygunner must wait nine weeks until they are next in action and the Munster draw presents them with a testing assignment away to the Limerick champions. They have had some terrific battles with Na Piarsaigh in particular over the last decade, and hitting the road has always been a challenge that Ballygunner have risen to.
Manager Darragh O’Sullivan spoke on Sunday of how they relish away days rather than relying on home comforts, and the evidence stacks up to suggest they cope with these long spells of inactivity between their Waterford final triumphs and Munster openers.
They won in 2021 away to Ballyea, cruised to success in 2022 at home to Kilruane MacDonaghs, and then took Sarsfields of Cork apart last November in Walsh Park. All three quarter-final victories were remarkably achieved by a margin of 17 points. No sign of Ballygunner being undercooked there.
They have won the last three Munster championships and contested the last six finals. A title win this year would push them to the top of the roll of honour. Targets to fuel their drive to keep going.
Dr Crokes will hope to be kept busy with Kerry county championship matters. The Munster football draw pits the Kerry flag-bearers at home to the Cork champions on the weekend of 9-10 November. Featuring there would be an aspiration for Dr Crokes given their rich tradition in the competition. After landing five Munster crowns between 2011 and 2018, they have endured a period of absence.
On Sunday, the attacking form of Burns and Tony Brosnan was eye-catching as they landed 0-13 between them. Fionn Fitzgerald and Gavin White continue to offer defensive nous, while the likes of Evan Looney and Charlie Keating show the Lewis Road production line is churning out young talent.
Ballygunner’s range of options has been illustrated vividly in recent seasons. The displays of Stephen O’Keeffe, Barry Coughlan, Conor Sheahan, Pauric Mahony, and Kevin Mahony, demonstrated their standards are not dropping.
What was apparent in both finals last Sunday was that the two winners shared similar characteristics, both in strong shape and highly motivated to make their mark as the club championships begin to ratchet up in significance this autumn and winter.
They will both take watching.
