The recent AIB Club Championship games in Cusack and Walsh Parks underlined once again the extent to which the Munster club hurling championship has been dominated by Clare and Waterford teams in recent years...

If An Moltóir’s memory serves him correctly, the only occasion that a Clare club was beaten in this championship since 1994 was when St. Joseph’s Doora-Barefield went under to eventual provincial champions Ballygunner in the first round in 2001. In the same time period, while the Waterford champions have had recurrent problems with their counterparts from Clare, they have never been beaten by a club from any other county in the province.

This certainly represents a major change from the traditional order of things, whereby teams from the Déise and the Banner routinely buckled when faced by the kingpins from Cork and Tipperary. This was particularly the case in tight finishes, where self-doubt and self-confidence flourished in equal proportions on either side of the have/have-not divide, as the finishing line hove into view. Things seem to be different these days. Tight finishes have become the hallmark of this marvellous competition, but no longer terrorise clubs from what used to be Munster’s weaker counties.

Last Sunday was an excellent example of this. In Ennis, Blackrock appeared to have saved the day in time-honoured fashion, and were presumably looking forward to dismantling Sixmilebridge whent they got them back in the Bog by the Lee. But the Claremen were having none of it, and swept down the field once again for Paul Fitzpatrick to nonchalantly sweep over the score that finally buried the Rebels. Similarly, in Waterford, injury-ridden Mullinahone appeared to be on their way to a well-deserved victory when Mount Sion swept down the field for a stunning winning goal from Eoin Kelly.

Mount Sion have managed to make the Munster final without ever reaching the standard displayed in the Waterford county final against Ballygunner. They can be considered fortunate to have gotten over both Adare and Mullinahone, but it is supposed to be a sign of a good side when they can win consistently without playing well. In both games their ability to score goals at vital times has proved vital. With Seán Ryan, the goalscoring hero against Adare, well held by Paul Curran, Eoin Kelly – who otherwise was having a mediocre game – stepped into the breach to do the needful.

The Waterford city side have had a major structural weakness in their last two games, in the form of two wing forwards who have been incapable of gaining any kind of meaningful possession. This has meant that their two potentially lethal corner men, Mícheál White and Eoin McGrath, have been starved of good possession. Inexplicably, in the game against Adare, the latter were both left in position right to the very end. Last Sunday, by contrast, both made a major contribution to the Monastery club’s cause when brought out the field in the second half. With veteran John Meaney also making a big impact when brought on in the second half, one can expect changes in the Mount Sion lineout for the Munster final.

Once again, Tony Browne had a huge game at centre half for the Déise men, thereby strengthening An Moltóir’s expectation that we will see him playing in defence for his county in 2003. Behind him, Anthony Kirwan stepped up considerably on his dodgy performance againt Adare, and with Brian Flannery and John Cleere also weighing in with solid efforts, very few goalscoring opportunities presented themselves to the visitors. However, until Eoin McGrath’s arrival, they struggled in midfield and had very little fluency in attack. It may be that the better surface and bigger spaces of Thurles will suit them better (although this hardly applies to the leaden-footed Jamie O’Meara and Roy McGrath).

Mullinahone were very unlucky to lose this one. Already robbed of the services of Paul Kelly and Eddie Carey, they had Brian O’Meara performing at half-cock and were struck a further major blow by Eoin Kelly’s second half injury. Their tactics of physical and vocal intimidation also seemed to work on a Mount Sion team which became increasingly frustrated by the fussiness of the referee and their own inability to get a grip on the game. The Tipp men’s superior application gave them a well-merited halftime lead, and when they appeared to have weathered the post-interval Mount Sion revival to regain the lead, only one result appeared likely. However, Eoin Kelly’s late strike really took the remaining wind out of their sails, and it was the Waterford side which won pulling up.

The big question now is: how will they perform in the final against Sixmilebridge? When the sides met two years ago at the same stage, Mount Sion never got going until it was too late. The 'Bridge on that occasion looked destined for All-Ireland triumph, such was the completeness of their victory. However, whatever was in their Christmas turkey, they were a different team in the new year, going out in the semi-final to Graigue-Ballycallan. Niall Gilligan in particular has never since reached the heights of that 2000 Munster campaign.

Mount Sion will have to fire on all cylinders if they are to prevail on Sunday week. And they certainly have a lot of cylinders available, with seven members of Waterford’s Munster championship-winning team on board. In fact, this may be part of their problem, as their approach against Adare and Mullinahone smacked more of smugness than fire-in-the-belly. Their manager, Jim Greene, clearly aiming to be Justin McCarthy’s successor, will undoubtedly do all in his power to get it right on the day. However, such is the record of the Clare clubs at this stage of the competition in recent years that it is hard to see beyond a Banner victory once again on this occasion.