HANNAH Sexton knows she will dig deep to defend her Munster women’s senior road bowling title against local bowler Denise Murphy this Sunday.

The Timoleague bowler will compete at Ballinagree for the first time, whereas Murphy knows this road inside out.

‘It definitely will be an advantage for Denise. I suppose just knowing the road is one massive advantage straight away going into every score,’ Sexton explains.

‘When you practise and throw on a road, you know what shots are on and what shots aren’t, where to stand and what not to do. Denise will have all that homework done before the Munster final, whereas we have to start learning pretty fast.’

Sexton, a trainee accountant, has been sitting exams, but will make the trip to Ballinagree, north of Macroom, a few times this week to familiarise herself with the road.

‘I've actually never thrown Ballinagree, so we’ll definitely be up there a few times this week. We’ve been waiting for my exams to finish and my dad is itching to get me on the road. He’d have had me up there today, yesterday and tomorrow if he could!’ she adds.

Murphy has pedigree, too. She won the All-Ireland intermediate title in 2022, the same year Sexton won her first senior title in her first year at the top grade. Murphy also contested the 2023 Munster senior final.

With series one of the All-Ireland road bowling championships on in Ballinagree the following week, Sexton knows that Murphy will be desperate to conquer Munster and have a shot at All-Ireland glory all on her home road.

But the defending champion has developed into one of the best women’s bowlers in the country.

Already a two-time champion (2022 and ’25), Sexton wants a hat-trick of titles, and is quietly confident about how her championship campaign has progressed.

‘I threw Megan Collins and Hannah Cronin in the round robin. I threw Hannah in last year’s Munster final, so I knew going into that score it was probably the deciding one in terms of how I thought the championship would go for me,’ Sexton explains.

‘I won that, so I qualified top of my group to meet Veronica O’Mahony in the semi-final.

‘I had a very good score against Megan too. They were two tough scores.

‘Then my score against Veronica was tough because I probably wasn’t on the form I’ve usually been. To scrape the win, I think everyone on the road supporting me was sweating buckets, but we just got over the line in the last two shots.’

Sexton’s semi-final win against O’Mahony in Newcestown in mid-June showed how she can dig out a result even when not at her best. That’s a resilience forged by years on the road.

‘The more you’re bowling, the more you’re learning about your own form and how you approach everything. I’ve noticed that more over the years,’ she says.

‘Against Veronica I was put in trouble on my third shot, which is where you don’t want to be. She nearly had a shot on me from then on, so it was about trying to pull that back, level it up and then try to get the lead.

‘I suppose with experience you kind of know the shots you really need to play. It did come down to the last two shots, up a hill, and I knew myself going into them how much power I needed to put into the shot to make sure it was played properly and carry the speed up the hill. That was really important.’

Sexton’s experience and know-how will be key this Sunday, as she targets back-to-back Munster senior titles and another opportunity for All-Ireland glory.