He was never going to be leaping around the place after a 17 point win, but the way Henry Shefflin goes about his business, you’d suspect he wouldn’t be going buck mad after a close one either.
The Ballyhale man is coolness personified in everything he does.
Fergal Horgan blew the final whistle on Sunday to signify Henry’s first All-Ireland win as a a manager. The victory would also see him join a very select group of Gaels to have won an All-Ireland club championship as a player and as a manager.
But this wasn’t about Henry.
He shook hands with a few good Ballyhale club men and women on the final whistle before making it his business to have a word with every last member of the St Thomas’ management team.
He left the Ballyhale players off celebrating their win. He’s had plenty of days like these but this is theirs’.
His attention turned to Fintan Burke.
The up and coming young Galway defender came into this game with the hope that it would be one of the best days of his life.
A real mainstay in St Thomas’ county title winning campaign, the athletic half back was hoping for another big one on the biggest stage of all on Sunday.
Instead, D-day turned into a bit of a nightmare for him. Having been moved back to the edge of the square to curtail the rampant Colin Fennelly, Burke chased him out for a ball but it wouldn’t end well.
He went over on his knee and you feared the worst straight away. It wasn’t a knock, this was a twist.
He looked banjaxed but a testament to the steel within and perhaps a tad unwisely, he had it bandaged up with an eye to rejoining the battle.
By the time the next ball came in, he knew his game and his dream was over. As he made his way off the pitch, the hurt of this beating hit him along with the jarring knock-down such an injury brings.
Henry hasn’t suffered many beatings in his career but he’s had plenty of injuries. He knew what the young Thomas’ player was going through and as Burke was being helped towards the centre of the pitch after the game, Henry was straight over to to console him.
It’s the small things that make a good manager but this just sums Henry up.
His pre match interview was delivered with calm and appreciation for the occasion. His post-match ones were carried out with graciousness.
His decision making defined his playing career and this peace of mind and understanding of what’s going on around him is transitioning seamlessly into his management too.
This calmness transmits right throughout this Ballyhale Shamrocks team too and it has done from the word go. After coming through a replay to beat Castlecomer in the county semi-final, they’ve steadily romped up their performances throughout the season with some gifted young guns giving them that bit extra.
Henry has bedded them in perfectly.
He’s a new fish in the management pond but he’s taken to it like a duck and whenever Brian Cody does decide to move on, Kilkenny have a ready made replacement on their doorstep.
