When the dust settled in Nowlan Park last weekend, most people seemed to feel that this year’s finals will feature the right teams.
I was disappointed that St Martin’s went out, because they have certainly shown that they are a very promising young team capable of exciting hurling.
All the same, the better team won, and most people expected James Stephens to come out on top of that particular clash. The final will be an interesting battle.
I said it at the start of the championship, and I believe it is still the case: The only team currently capable of mounting a serious challenge to this Ballyhale side was Carrickshock. They had their chance in September, and ultimately came up short.
The replay was comfortable enough for the Shamrocks, but I suppose if the first clash showed anything, it is that they can have a bad day at the office.
James Stephens will take solace from this – and the knowledge that in championship finals, the form book and the bookies’ odds often have a funny way of becoming irrelevant.
One thing is for certain: The Village will not fear Ballyhale. They will naturally have a healthy respect for their opposition, who will be red-hot favourites, but they will certainly come out and contest from throw-in to final whistle.
Few people are making any bones about calling that game in favour of a Ballyhale victory, but this weekend’s intermediate final has most people still straddling the fence.
Before ever a sliothar is thrown-in, Sunday’s battle could be won or lost in the psychological stakes.
Both sides are keen to assume the ‘underdogs’ mantle, with the added pressure of the ‘favourites’ tag considered a danger to the mindset of two young panels.
This is an area where leadership, both managerial and on-field, may prove decisive, and neither side is lacking in that department.
Danesfort will naturally look to their three inter-county stars, Paul Murphy and the Hogans, to stand up and be counted, while the Rower-Inistioge have players who are no stranger to the big occasion, not least in captain Kieran Joyce, vice captain Sean Cummins, and goalkeeper Liam Tierney.
There will most likely be a few nerves early on, as the two teams come to grips with the occasion. Nonetheless, I would expect a seismic opening half hour with possibly the odd schmozzle, as both sides attempt to establish physical dominance and players look to put it up to their opposing number.
The hope would be that referee Gavin Quilty will let things flow, and keep the game from descending into a free-taking shootout.
The Rower-Inistioge will be looking to get the scoreboard moving early on, because once Danesfort find any kind of scoring rhythm they can pull away very quickly. John Lockes found this out to their cost, when they failed to register a single point in the opening 40 minutes of their championship tie against the Fort men.
However precedent suggests that this is a task within the capabilities of this Rower-Inistioge team. They hit 0-5 early on without reply against Freshford in their semi-final, and will want to come out of the blocks with the same sort of intensity this weekend.
Danesfort, meanwhile, will be quietly confident that they have the beating of a Rower-Inistioge team playing in its first intermediate final.
Not to take away from Danesfort’s quality across the park, but it is no secret that keeping Richie Hogan quiet is the key to beating them. Seanie Cummins will be the man tasked with this directly, but half the battle could be won in the midfield and half forward line – if they can cut off the supply channels to the likes of Hogan and the in-form Robbie Walsh — the task will be a lot less daunting. Even the best forwards cannot score if they do not get the sliothar.