Anthony Daly: All the pressure is on Ballygunner - and they can thrive on it

Kevin Mahony of Ballygunner celebrates after his side’s victory in the Waterford SHC final over Roanmor at Walsh Park. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The story goes that when Jimmy McGinn was dying in 1995, Pat O’Sullivan paid a visit to his old Ballygunner mentor a couple of days before he passed away. The last words McGinn uttered to O’Sullivan were: “Win that cup.” McGinn didn’t specify which cup, but, considering Ballygunner had just won their second county title in four years, he didn’t have to.

For decades now, Ballygunner’s players have been driven to honour McGinn and expand his legacy. McGinn founded the club. In 1994, Ballygunner’s ground was named after him. The club’s jerseys bear the McGinn family crest. Yet if Munster had become a fixation for McGinn, the All-Ireland has become a near obsession for Ballygunner. With three O’Neill Cups (Munsters) now secured, including two of the last three, Ballygunner have long been craving only one cup — Tommy Moore.

To win it, Barry Coughlan and Philip Mahony will nearly have to be walking into McGinn Park on Saturday evening with both handles of the Tommy Moore trophy gripped tightly. Because that’s nearly how far down the road you have to be to make sure you have Ballyhale Shamrocks beaten, especially in an All-Ireland final.

The Shamrocks don’t lose All-Ireland finals. They’ve only lost one — their first final appearance — in 1979. Their record in the meantime is off the charts. Eight finals. Eight wins. Boom.

Ballygunner won’t thank me for saying this but all the pressure is on them. Ballyhale have it all done. Another final is just another trip to Croke Park. Ballygunner have never been here before. A Waterford club has never won an All-Ireland senior title. In a historical context, a Kilkenny team playing a Waterford side in a final in Croke Park should only be going one way.

It very easily could if the Shamrocks’ big guns fire. Colin Fennelly won’t be able to do what he likes against Coughlan, but he showed in the Leinster final that he has the ability to cause chaos when he shows up at Headquarters. TJ is TJ, who is capable of anything, including racking 2-3 from play. If that lethal combination cut loose, and Adrian Mullen and Eoin Cody keep the scoreboard moving, it’s very hard to see the Shamrocks being stopped.

The issue for Ballyhale is from their forward line back. Ronan Corcoran, who missed the semi-final against St Thomas’ with a broken hand, is still a huge doubt. I’ve been told that Darren Mullen is, at best, 50-50. Mullen and his younger brother Kevin, along with Conor Phelan, were all forced off with injuries in the semi-final and have been in a race against time to be fit.

Despite all their experience, having that amount of injuries is compounded for the Shamrocks when they’re in such ropey form by their standards. Mullen is a serious player but trying to stop Dessie Hutchinson in the full of your health is an ordeal, never mind being off full-fitness in Croke Park.

It’s even more of a concern when you look at the firepower Ballygunner has up front. Dessie and Pauric Mahony are their standout inter-county players but even those guys have been outshone by other forwards at different stages en route to this final; Mikey Mahony, Kevin Mahony, Billy O’Keeffe, Peter Hogan. There were also games when the Ballygunner midfield pairing of Kevin Sheahan and Paddy Leavy were two of their top six performers.

Ballygunner’s form is more reliable, while I also think that Stephen O’Keeffe’s excellence and experience could be critical. Ballyhale won’t make a hero out of the ‘keeper like other teams have but O’Keeffe’s shot-stopping ability is a huge comfort blanket when Fennelly, Cody, Mullen and TJ are on the other side.

I just feel that the Waterford side’s graph is rising more steadily. Unlike Ballyhale, Ballygunner also seem to have a clean bill of health. There is pressure on them to deliver but if any group are capable of handling it and creating their own history, it’s Ballygunner. And I think they’ll finally win that coveted Cup.

It's an interesting dynamic for Henry Shefflin with his club in Croke Park but his mind will be firmly on Galway taking on Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds. It’s Henry’s first big challenge as Galway manager but I think he’ll appreciate the stakes have been raised further for this game.

After only scoring 0-11 last weekend in Wexford, there is bound to be a backlash. Furthermore, this is sort of a homecoming party for the Limerick supporters, who will get to see their team in a big home game for the first time in two years. The Gaelic Grounds will be jammed, and the players won’t want to disappoint them.

John Kiely sometimes reminds me of Ger Loughnane, in a far more understated way. He didn’t say a lot last week, but I’d say the players got the hairdryer treatment during the week. Some of those players will be stung by their displays but they will also be looking over their shoulders. Kyle Hayes and Sean Finn were on the bench last week, but Richie English is hurling out of his skin and Mike Casey is also reportedly on the brink of a return. After missing the last two championships, how ravenous is Mike going to be for a starting jersey? With Colin Coughlan also developing, could we somehow see Kyle returning to the half-forward line, just to shake the whole thing up, even for a brief spell?

Henry doesn’t have those options. Evan Niland landed 0-14 for NUIG against WIT during the week and, while I half expected Shefflin to name Niland and Brian Concannon in the squad, despite their upcoming Fitzgibbon semi-final, he hasn’t. Cian Lynch also played in that game for NUIG, but Kiely doesn’t need to pick Cian in the way that Henry needs all his players.

The wins for NUIG and GMIT underlined the level of talent in Galway, with both teams packed with Galway players, but how much of that new Galway talent Henry has in the squad will be ready in 2022? Cianan Fahy, the GMIT captain, gets his chance today, but it takes time to get up to the standard, both in terms of skill and physicality, that Limerick have set.

Whatever team Galway pick, I can’t see them being ready for the backlash in the bearpit. In those circumstances, I don’t think Henry will be too disappointed if he at least gets a performance before heading back to Ballyhale to celebrate or commiserate with his clubmates.

Limerick have changed the landscape so much that any game they’re involved in against the top teams is always the biggest match of the weekend, which is the reason Kilkenny-Tipp is no longer the marquee fixture it always would have been. Neither team were overly impressive last week. With Brian Cody talking afterwards about a lax performance against Antrim, you can be sure there will be a sting off Kilkenny too.

Cody will pick a stronger team but what stood out for me against Laois was the displays of Tipp’s younger brigade. Jake Morris and Mark Kehoe got seven points from play between them in horrendous conditions. Craig Morgan was excellent at corner-back. Dillon Quirke also played well. Ger Browne, Denis Maher and James Quigley also got their chance to audition for a starting jersey, which further underlined the transition Colm Bonnar has spoken about.

Colm will appreciate that there would be no better way to announce his arrival and really get the show on the road than a win against Kilkenny. I think Tipp’s need will be greater and I fancy them to shade it.

I’m looking forward to joining the great unwashed in Cusack Park, my first time back there since the county final in November. Nobody in Clare is naïve enough to think that we could go down to Cork and win without six or seven definite starters, but nobody was happy with the meltdown before half-time and conceding an unanswered 1-10, which effectively ended the contest.

I know Brian Lohan well enough to know that he had his team fired up for the challenge. But for the players to decide that they weren’t fired up is not really good enough. And we all want to see a response now.

Brian’s hand is restricted with injuries, but I’d still like to see him be a bit more adventurous now with his selection. I’m hoping to see David Fitzgerald, even John Conlon. I’m not sure if John is the answer to the troublesome number six spot, but if Brian doesn’t think he is, especially after more knee trouble, why not throw John back in full-forward on Liam Ryan and see exactly where the Clonlara man is?

Cian Galvin played half an hour for UL during the week and he might be worth a first league outing. Patrick Crotty was so impressive when introduced last week that maybe he is also entitled to more game time than other more established names. I’m not sure Clare are set up to win this game, but a performance is a must.

Elsewhere I’d expect wins for Waterford and Cork against Laois and Offaly respectively. Dublin are going well but there are no guarantees away against Antrim. Social media was awash with anger and frustration last Sunday night when there were no cameras at the Antrim-Kilkenny game to show the action on ‘League Sunday’, especially when Antrim reportedly played so well.

The GAA have responded by ensuring that this afternoon’s match in Corrigan Park is being shown on the BBC iplayer, the BBC Sport NI website and GAAGO.

Nothing like a cause in early spring to get people going. Even at this stage of the season, everyone is looking for an angle somewhere.