Ballyhale Shamrocks 1-22 Dunloy Cuchullains 1-15
Three different eras have now delivered nine All-Irelands for Ballyhale Shamrocks, who are out of sight at the top of the competition’s roll of honour.
Combine Birr and Portumna’s four each in second place and you’d still be shy of Ballyhale’s tally, accumulated by three largely distinct teams from 1984-90, 2007-15 and since 2019 on with the present team.
The likes of TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly straddle the entirety of the last two eras, as does Joey Holden to a large degree. With Fennelly and Holden now embarking on their travels again, rendering this potentially their last senior game for the club, manager Pat Hoban was asked if this felt like the end of something after a seven-point victory over Dunloy that probably flattered them.
He smiled dismissively at the suggestion, then replied: “Look, there’s a cycle. I wasn’t involved but I’m close enough to the set up to know, a few years back Mick Fennelly retired, Henry retired, Cha Fitz retired and everyone said, ‘That’s the end of that team’. You saw today, two 18-year-olds on that pitch today, stood up, no bother at all.
“Ballyhale have an amazing ability to regenerate. Coming up on the bus, this is true now, people were talking about who’s the minors, who’s coming through, what have they, what’s the couple of next lads coming through - that’s the way they think.
“I’m delighted for Joey Holden. I just wish he had scored the one at the end, what a fairytale that would have been.
“Joey came home out of the blue. He had made his mind up to go away and then came home for whatever reason. His father died, which was unfortunate but it was remarkable timing. Joey was back.
“He’s on a plane now next Saturday. Colin is off as well a couple of days after. They’re going to be huge, huge losses, absolutely. But that’s what it is – the test will come. We’ll celebrate now.
“I’m delighted for those guys. They are the real drivers of the team,” added Hoban, who had to rejig his side with Niall Shortall coming in for injured county star Adrian Mullen.
When they discuss their greatest teams back in Ballyhale, this side probably has the most compelling claims to be placed top of the pile having been the first from the club to retain the All-Ireland title and the first ever to win five-in-a-row in Kilkenny and four-in-a-row in Leinster.
They might have amassed even more riches but for the competition being abandoned two years ago owing to the pandemic and, of course, the bitter blow of Ballygunner’s late winner in last year’s All-Ireland final.
With 10 minutes to go, their mettle was tested as Dunloy closed to within a point having forced a couple of rousing turnovers. But Ballyhale settled to push five clear and though Dunloy replied with a couple of points to leave a goal in it approaching injury time, four without reply from Hoban’s men put the seal on the victory.
“To be fair to Dunloy, they really brought the battle. They got a great start. I think we found it hard to get our rhythm. We stuttered along at times.
“Dunloy were well set up as we knew they were. That was disappointing because we kept seeming to find their spare men.
“We knew they had pace up front to cause us problems. Coming down the home straight, it was a bit too scary. The final scoreline flattered Ballyhale a lot.”
It was a game that never really took off as a spectacle and, for that, the pitch had a lot to answer, with the threadbare surface contributing to a high error count on both sides.
Dunloy got in for a superbly taken goal by Ronan Molloy in the third minute after Conal Cunning won possession and fed him, but Ballyhale were still that bit slicker in the first quarter and after they rattled off a few points, Eoin Cody struck for a goal in the 15th minute to give them a lead they subsequently never relinquished.
It was set up by Colin Fennelly, who the Dunloy rearguard struggled with throughout the first half. He placed Cody for two other first half goal chances which Ryan Elliott saved and it allowed Dunloy, despite struggling to win possession up front as they prioritised having numbers in defence, to keep in touch at half-time as they trailed 1-9 to 1-7.
An anticipated third quarter surge from Ballyhale didn’t materialise, with four of their first five second half points coming from Reid placed balls and Dunloy staying on their shoulder.
Molloy’s point after Reid had dithered in possession to leave it at 1-14 to 1-13 in the 50th minute was reflective of the momentum now flowing in Dunloy’s favour though, crucially, they lost composure at times with a number of ill-advised efforts dropping harmlessly short.
With long-term injury absentee Brian Cody surprisingly sprung from the bench, Ballyhale enjoyed their best period as they clinically knocked over four points in a two-minute spell and, after two Dunloy points, repeated that in injury time to win handsomely in the end and consign the Antrim men to a fifth final defeat.
“Coming down the home straight we underhit three or four balls,” rued Dunloy manager Gregory O’Kane. “Dropped into the keeper's hand.
“Probably at that time when we were needing energy with a point in it, the game might have been level.
“Again it just turned on that there, the last two or three minutes of injury time lads are out on their feet, and Ballyhale clipped on a few scores to get over the line.”
BALLYHALE SHAMROCKS: D Mason; K Corcoran (0-1), J Holden, B Butler; E Shefflin (0-1), R Reid, D Corcorcan (0-1); R Corcoran (0-1), P Mullen (0-1); E Cody (1-5), TJ Reid (0-7, 0-2f, 0-4 ‘65’), J Cuddihy (0-1); E Kenneally (0-1), C Fennelly (0-2), N Shortall.
Subs: B Cody (0-1) for Shortall (51), D Mullen for K Corcoran (59).
DUNLOY CUCHULLAINS: R Elliott; P Duffin, R McGarry, O Quinn (0-1); E Smyth (0-1), K Molloy, C Kinsella; P Shiels (0-2), E McFerran; N Elliott, N McKeague (0-1), K Molloy (0-1); R Molloy (1-1), C Cunning (0-7f), S Elliott (0-1).
Subs: D Smith for McKeague (45), C McMahon for N Elliott (54).
REFEREE: J Murphy (Limerick).
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