Ballygunner came good in the second-half to see off St Martin’s by 0-19 to 0-10 at Semple Stadium and book their place in next month’s All-Ireland club senior hurling championship final against Loughrea.

The Waterford champions overcame a below part first-half at the Thurles venue to outscore their Wexford counterparts by 0-14 to 0-2 after the change of ends and advance back into the Tommy Moore Cup decider for the first time since their victorious 2021/22 campaign

Dessie Hutchinson got the Gunners up and running with the opening score inside four minutes and they’d double their lead before a spirited St Martin’s side got motoring in this semi-final.

Joe Barrett and Rory O’Connor were key up front as the Leinster champions hit three on the spin and, despite Ballygunner getting it level, it was the men from the Model County that raised three more white flags to move towards a 0-6 to 0-4 advantage at the break.

Daithí Hayes’s men were full value for their interval lead and also had a goal disallowed which saw Ian Kenny kicking the sliotar into the back of his own net (watch it below).

Own goal by Ian Kenny disallowed. Ballygunner v St Martins: pic.twitter.com/SroV0uEZbk

— Craic Of The Ash (@CraicOfTheAsh) December 21, 2025

Darren Codd extended the advantage to three after the change of ends, but Ballygunner would be up by two heading into the closing quarter in Thurles as ‘Man of the Match’ Hutchinson and Mark Hartley were to the fore for the six-time Munster champions.

Pauric Mahony’s free made it 0-11 to 0-8 in the 46th minute and Jason Ryan’s men continued to turn the screw, with Patrick Fitzgerald and Mahony pushing the margin out to five points.

St Martin’s got a sorely needed score from O’Connor to stem the tide, but Mahony wiped it out with a free from centre-field in the 53rd minute and the electric Hutchinson added back-to-back points in quick succession that suddenly had the margin at seven.

Rory O’Connor saw a half goal chance stopped by Stephen O’Keeffe minutes later and, from there, Ballygunner went up the field to register another from Hutchinson and a break away point from Harry Ruddle down the right flank would have it at doubles scores (0-18 to 0-9).

Hutchinson and Joe Barrett traded points afterwards and Jack O’Connor would see a late free stopped on the goal line, as the Gunners won out by nine to book their Croke Park date against Loughrea on January 18th.

The forwards are on 🔥 for @ballygunnerHc in the second half against @StMartinsGAA in Thurles #gaa pic.twitter.com/I1eqiqfnoR

— The GAA (@officialgaa) December 21, 2025

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