By John Harrington

Last year’s defeat to Ballyea in the Munster SHC Semi-Final stung Thurles Sarsfields badly.

They looked home and hosed when they led by five points with two minutes to play, but Ballyea came with a late charge and took the game into extra-time when Gary Brennan scored a 64th minute goal.

Not surprisingly, Sarsfields looked deflated side in the additional 20 minutes and ended up losing the game by two points.

It was hard to watch for Sarsfields and Tipperary defender, Mickey Cahill, who missed the match through injury.

He admits the nature of the defeat fuelled their fire to win a fourth county title in a row this year and have another crack at a Munster campaign.

“Absolutely,” said Cahill. “From the start of the year, the one thing you want to do is back to the county final and win that.

“We had a tough road along the way. Possibly we should have been beaten by Kilruane and Upperchurch-Drombane. We just barely got over them but things came right and we got through to the final and Borris.

“We got through that game thanks be to God but the next day is our real focus now. A Munster quarter-final against the Waterford champions.

“Over the last couple of years, it has been tough. We’ve been on the wrong side of these games so we’ll just have to focus on what’s ahead and take it one step at a time.”

Coming up short in the Munster Championship is an experience that Thurles Sarsfields are all too familiar with.

They’ve won seven Tipperary County titles in the last nine years but on only one of those occasions – 2012 – managed to also annex the Munster Championship.

They’ve lost a number of tight matches against quality opposition in that time, but it’s fair to say they’ve underachieved considering the quality they have in their ranks.

“Yeah we have, for whatever reason,” admitted Cahill. “We’ve been on the wrong side of a number of these games. It’s hard to put your finger on it.

“We have underachieved for what we’ve won in Tipperary and we’re aware of that.

“But you can’t take your eye off the ball and be looking ahead to Munster Finals, if we get through the next day we’ll have two tough games to even get there.”

They certainly can’t afford to look beyond their opponents in Sunday’s Munster Quarter-Final.

Waterford champions Ballygunner have won a fourth county title in a row and are themselves fired up to win a Munster title having come up short in each of the last three years in provincial championship action.

The two teams met at the quarter-final stage of last year's Munster Championship, with Sarsfields coming out on top by a single point in a ferociously fought match. 

Curiously, even though both counties have produced some strong club teams over the course of the past couple of decades, Waterford and Tipperary sides have a very poor record once they travel beyond their own county borders.

No Waterford team has ever won an All-Ireland club title, and no Tipperary team has won one since Borris-Ileigh were champions in 1987.

For a County like Tipperary, in particular, who regard themselves as one of the super-powers of the game, that’s a glaring anomaly.

“It is really,” admitted Cahill. “I don’t know if you’d put it down to being unlucky or underachieving.

“Toomevara won Tipperary for years and it eluded them as well. You would have thought they’d surely get there.

“We’re on a similar path at the moment and we hope to get there eventually. But getting through Munster is really tough.

“You’re facing the best teams in the country, the likes of Na Piarsaigh and Ballygunner and you have to beat them first before you even think about an All-Ireland.”