Seán Murphy ready for the final step on Na Fianna's journey

Dublin club Na Fianna have been building towards this moment for years.

On Sunday, they'll step out at Croke Park ready to compete for the highest club hurling honours as they compete in their first ever AIB GAA All-Ireland senior club hurling final.

It’s been a long road for the North Dublin club where, for the majority of their history, football has been the main focus.

That began to change in the early 2010s when a renewed focus on hurling at the club began to pay dividends and they made a breakthrough at minor level, winning the Dublin Championship in 2012.

Na Fianna built on that success, putting together a four-year winning streak between 2014 and 2017 at minor level before taking the next step.

Back-to-back defeats in the Dublin senior final in 2021 and 2022 could have presented them with an insurmountable road-block but they got over that hump to win in 2023, beating Ballyboden St Enda's before going back-to-back with victory over Kilmacud Crokes in 2024.

Now they’re looking to complete their story and face Cork side Sarsfields in Sunday’s All-Ireland decider.

It’s been a journey that Seán Murphy has been along for, every step of the way.

"Football in Na Fianna has always been big and it still is," he said. "Hurling, over time, gradually became popular. Obviously, the talent started to roll through, and we started to be able to compete at underage level.

"It took a while, then, for that to transfer across to adult level, but it did, eventually. Hurling is probably just as big now as football in the club."

Getting over the hump at minor level was the key moment for Murphy, as Na Fianna had proved to themselves they have what it takes to win silverware.

"First and foremost, it is nice to get the sense of belief that once you