Following the Minor Championship success in 1954, Ballygunner's senior side had to start from the bottom & work their way up. In 1956, they reached the Junior County Final against Geraldines. Although they lost by 2-7, it did not dishearten the team. The following year they gained promotion into the senior ranks by winning the junior championship. In 1963, Ballygunner faced Mount Sion for the first time in a Senior County Final. It was Ballygunner's first at this grade. Mount Sion won the match by 4-6 to 3-4. Again in 1965, Mount Sion ran out victorious to ensure a three in a row, but by only one point this time around. The tide was beginning to turn in Waterford hurling.  1966 was the historic year that Ballygunner first made the breakthrough. They defeated Mount Sion 2-6 to 2-3. Now that the main barrier was passed, McGinn set his ambitions to make Ballygunner a serious force in Waterford hurling. They defeated Ballyduff Lower/Portlaw & Mount Sion in '67 & '68 respectively to capture a first three in a row. As the great team of the 60s had been trying for several to win a county title, they now faced a new problem. The three in a row winning team were aging rapidly and several key players began to retire. Up until the '90s, Ballygunner village was very small and had a low population. This led to a lack of young people in the parish and thus a lack of juvenile players. Despite the best efforts of James McGinn, the same standard of under-age teams that had been developed in the club's early days could not be kept. In 1980, the club was relegated to the intermediate grade. This was a massive blow to the club and parish in general. However, after failed attempts in 1982 and '83, Ballygunner earned promotion to the senior ranks yet again in 1984 after a four-year absence. Knowing that he was getting on in age, McGinn had one more ace to play. In 1972, he began to sculpt an even greater team than that in the 60s. This team would guide the gunners to not just to the pinnacle of Waterford hurling again, but to the pinnacle of Munster hurling. In 1992, Ballygunner won their first county title since 1968. The team's backbone was the successful underage team that had won almost every underage honour that was in the county including back-to-back under-21 County titles in 1988-89.