Loughmore-Castleiney are aiming to reach their first Munster senior hurling final since 2007 this afternoon.
They travel to Dungarvan to take on Ballygunner in the semi-final, which will be Loughmore’s 19th consecutive weekend of championship action.
Ballygunner beat Clare champions Ballyea by 18 points in their quarter-final tie two weeks ago.
However, 2007 Munster final winning captain with Loughmore Johnny Gleeson fancies his sides chances today:
“I’d give Loughmore a great chance in this one, a lot of people mightn’t but, I know they are up against it, probably a very formidable side in Ballygunner, they have 18 county finals and are after winning 8-in-a-row, that is some achievement in its own right but I don’t know if they’ve met the test that they are going to meet on Sunday.
“I think Loughmore are going to put up a great show and I think the heavy conditions that we are in is going to favour Loughmore in a big way.
“It’s down in Dungarvan, down in the lion’s den as they say but I realistically give them a great chance and I’d hope they win and can go on to the final and do it as well.”
Meanwhile, Ballygunner manager Darragh O’Sullivan, speaking to Tomás McCarthy on WLR FM, says Loughmore will be right up there with the best teams they’ve faced:
“They are a phenomenally hard working team and you look at it and break it down and you see the way they play, they hunt in packs and they really really work hard.
“They have marquee forwards as well, they are a serious team and they would have been as good as we have ever come across, right up there with the top teams that we would have played in the Munster club over the last seven or eight years so it is going to be a huge challenge for the lads.”
The match gets underway in Dungarvan at 3.15pm and we’ll have live commentary of that game here on Tipp FM with thanks to O’Connell’s Centra, Templemore
The other semi-final takes place before that, with Limerick’s Kilmallock meeting Midleton of Cork at the Gaelic Grounds from a quarter-past-1.
