Ballygunner push merciless standards in search of another All-Ireland

Waterford champions Ballygunner face Cork's Sarsfields in Sunday Munster Club SHC final. 

HOLY GRAIL: Ballygunner need a second All-Ireland title to cement their legacy. Picture: ©INPHO/Ken Sutton

Shortly after Ballygunner had beaten Abbeyside-Ballinacourty by 18 points in the county final in September to secure an 11th Waterford title in succession, Dessie Hutchinson cleared his throat. Something had lodged in his chest and stuck in his gullet. So Hutchinson coughed it up and spat it straight out.

“Honestly, this is the sweetest one yet for us,” he said. “Everyone, for some reason, wrote us off this week. All the talk was about Abbeyside, how they were going to end this (record) and how they were going to beat us. When you do that to us, it’s a dangerous game.”