Ballygunner kept their twelve-in-a-row hopes alive when coming from behind to beat De La Salle at windswept Walsh Park.

Having trailed by 1-7 to 0-5 at half time and by twice as much with time almost up in today’s keenly-contested semi-final, the Gunners battled back late in the second half to secure a precious 2-16 to 1-13 victory, which keeps Jason Ryan’s men on course for a dozen successive SHC titles and a 24th in total.

It was a stunning victory for the holders, who had Patrick Fitzgerald sent off in first-half injury time and were adrift by two points with only three minutes remaining. A brilliant Kevin Mahony point kickstarted the late revival and Man of the Match Pauric Mahony (a second-half sub) set up Dessie Hutchinson for a brace of late goals before clipping over his fifth point as De La Salle hearts were broken.

Opposition in the decider will be provided by Mount Sion, who qualified for their first SHC final since 2022 with a thrilling 1-15 to 0-17 victory over Roanmore in the Walsh Park semi-final double-header curtain-raiser.

With the wind wreaking havoc, it looked like Roanmore were going to hold out for a famous win over their city rivals, only for former Hurler of the Year Austin Gleeson to tip the scales in Mount Sion’s favour at the death: first he pointed the leveller from close to the sideline two minutes into injury time, then he picked out Adam Regan for what proved to be the winner.

The winners led by four points at the break, 1-8 to 0-7, Jamie Meaney with the game’s only goal in the third minute but with Sion having been reduced to 14 men when full back Luke O’Brien was sent off eight minutes later.

The Sky Blues eventually got level with points from Paul O’Sullivan, Billy Nolan, Brian Nolan and Rory Furlong - 1-10 to 0-13 – but then had their full back Frank McGrath dismissed on 44 minutes. Two Gavin O’Brien frees and a Shane Mackey point had Roanmore on the verge of victory but Gleeson and Mount Sion had other ideas…

The 2025 Waterford SHC final will be a repeat of those of 2014 and 2022, both of which Ballygunner of course won, with 35-times winners Mount Sion bidding for their first success since 2006.

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