Ballyhale Shamrocks v James Stephens
A repeat of the 2005 county senior decider sees revenge on the mind of hat-trick chasing champions Ballyhale Shamrocks as they face James Stephens, with the south Kilkenny men in county final action for the 4th consecutive year.
The Village retained their county title three years ago as they overcame a Shamrocks’ outfit that froze on the occasion, with Henry Shefflin enduring his worst nightmare in an afternoon to forget.
However, Shamrocks recovered and dominated the 2006 senior final as they easily defeated O’Loughlin Gaels 1-23 to 2-12, where, despite the absence of their two star players King Henry and James “Cha” Fitzpatrick, they finished with a devastating burst of speed. Sunday’s final is also a corresponding clash of last year’s semi-final as Shamrocks defended resiliently to defeat the Village 0-17 to 0-13.
Shamrocks were heading towards an easy victory as inspired by Eamonn Walsh at full-back and TJ Reid they built up an 0-8 to 0-1 lead after 20 minutes.
However, an unfortunate broken metatarsal sustained by “Cha” Fitz broke the Shamrocks’ momentum, and the Village closed the gap as they trailed 0-9 to 0-5 at the interval.
Shamrocks re-grouped at the interval and teak-tough defending by Aidan Cummins, Bob Aylward and Padraig Holden upped their efforts significantly. TJ Reid revelled as the attack leader in the absence of Henry, and they managed to withstand the James Stephens’ pressure as they held out for a 4 point victory.
James Stephens in 2008 were appearing in their 7th consecutive semi-final, and in a tough, hard, physical semi-final against city rivals and neighbours O’Loughlin Gaels, they emerged victorious.
An Eoin Larkin goal at the start of the final quarter proved decisive, while Jackie Tyrrell after a quiet first-half, led the charge with an inspired second-half performance.
However, they were aided greatly by the absence of Martin Comerford whose presence would have almost guaranteed a different outcome, as their St Johns’ rivals would be preparing for Sunday’s showdown.
The Village will need a massive improvement in attack just to compete with the champions on Sunday, and their 1-3 from play in the semi-final in contrast to Shamrocks 1-14 from play in attack against Carrickshock doesn’t augur well for the Larchfield opponents.
Eoin Larkin has postponed surgery on a groin injury until after the county final, while veteran Peter Barry looks set to start at full-forward.
Matthew Ruth will probably start at wing-forward as the Village struggled badly in that area and will look to curb the influence of the Shamrocks’ half-back line, while last year’s minors David Walton and Shane Brennan look set to fill the corner-forwards.
Their defensive unit was solid in the semi-final as Tomas Keogh and James Moran performed heroically, while Donncha Cody and Jackie Tyrrell led by example in the second-half.
The 2006 All-Ireland winning captain will almost certainly follow Henry to try and restrict his growing influence.
The Shamrocks’ contingent are turning the Kilkenny senior championship into a procession and drawing comparisons with the great Shamrocks’ team that won 9 county senior championships between 1978 and 1991.
Ominously for the opposition, this Shamrocks’ team hasn’t reached its peak, and with the majority of this panel under-25 their best years lie firmly ahead.
James Connolly is improving into a goalkeeper of high quality, the full-back line of Paul Shefflin, the powerful Eamonn Walsh and teak-tough Padraig Holden resembles the best full-back line in the county.
The half-back line of the powerfully-built veteran, Aidan Cummins, and irrepressible Bob Aylward won’t be beaten under a high ball.
The midfield pairing of James “Cha” Fitzpatrick and Michael Fennelly is the best partnership since the legendary Frank Cummins and Liam “Chunky” O’Brien, while the attacking unit led by Henry and the Reid brothers have contributed 0-25 per game in league/championship in 2008. That’s where class prevails.
Despite the suspected long-term absence of Colin Fennelly, Shamrocks have sufficient reserve strength and even though a much closer score-line than the 21-point winning margin in the league final will transpire, a landslide victory by 10 points plus awaits the three-in-a-row champions.
Verdict: Shamrocks by at least 10 points.
