Ballyhale are back.
Shefflin is finished, so is James Cha Fitzpatrick but the Shamrocks have a new breed of players now and it’s that young blood that’s taking them onto the great things that Shefflin and Fitzpatrick did in the past.
The Shamrocks had way too much for Ballyboden in the Leinster senior hurling final in Cullen Park in Carlow and now they’re Leinster champions for a record ninth time and they’re cruising into an All-Ireland semi-final again.
Michael Fennelly is still still there, so is Colin and TJ and Joey Holden but having struggled in Kilkenny for the last three years, it’s the injection of youth, from the likes of Evan Shefflin, Darren and Adrian Mullen and Eoin Cody that are making the difference.
And no better man to steer them in the right direction than the greatest hurler of modern times, Ballyhale legend Henry Shefflin.
Ballyboden scored the first point of the game through a Paul Ryan free but they’d never lead this game again. Shamrocks were quick to settle into it and fittingly, their first three scores came off the hurls of those youngsters we’re talking about.
Eoin Cody, a nephew of Henry Shefflin, scored a delicious first before Evan Shefflin, another nephew, scored a raker from his own half-back line to rise the Ballyhale crowd.
And then it was time for Adrian Mullen, the coolest customer in Cullen Park to dart past two would be Ballyboden challengers like they weren’t even there before deftly slotting a beauty into the net.
Ballyhale had arrived.
Collie Basquel, so impressive in the semi-final, rose a gallop for Ballyboden with two hard earned points in quick succession soon after, but Ballyhale responded like they always do.
Eoin Reid knocked over a few, TJ was pulling the strings and Richie Reid was joining the party. Shane Durkan and Niall McMorrow came alive for Ballyboden but Ballyhale began to stretch their legs again.
At half-time, the margin was four but the Kilkenny kingpins took off in the second. Adrian Mullen scored another cracking goal and Colin Fennelly scored a point worth the entrance fee alone.
They went onto win by 2-21 to 0-11, sixteen points the winning margin. When you consider that Kilkenny won the Leinster intermediate by eight, and the junior by 12 points yesterday – this senior win made it a clean sweep for the Cats’ clubs with a combined winning margin of 36 points in the finals.
That’s pure and utter domination.
