The immediate reaction from the Ballyhale Shamrocks’ backroom team was that they had got out of jail, after last Sunday’s county final.
Most of the hurling fans attending the game would agree with that statement. The final minutes were dramatic:
Henry Shefflin won possession in the right corner at the city end of Nowlan Park, he tried to round Donnacha Cody but Cody stuck to his task. Philip Larkin came in as back up.
Shefflin went down, and it could have been a free. The ball was cleared, Eoin Larkin sallied through the tackles and flicked the ball over the bar.
The Village go a point up, with 59m 47s on the clock, and two minutes of injury time beckoning. James Stephens win a free on the sideline, 70 metres from goal, as Niall McQuillan is grounded – a minute of a hold up for an injury.
Larkin’s free drops short. Eamon Walsh attempts to clear, he is tackled and appears to be injured, as he falls on the ball.
A throw in, as the clock reads 62 minutes. Ger Fennelly gets possession, he is surrounded by James Stephens players, and the referee gives a free out to the Shamrocks.
The ball is hit diagonally to the far wing. Donnacha Cody appears to be winning the race for the ball ahead of Henry Shefflin.
Shefflin tackles, the ball heads towards the sideline. TJ Reid gains possession and makes headway down the sideline. Colin Fennelly gains possession, loses possession, he attempts to get the ball again. He hits the deck, the referee awards a free in; 63m 20s has elapsed.
The moment of truth has arrived. Shefflin does not disappoint.
James Stephens hurled up a storm in the second half and looked all over winners two minutes into injury time as they led by a point. But two frees later and along with the nerves of steel of Henry Shefflin who put the last puck of the game, a 30 metre free from the right wing, over the bar. The Shamrocks lived to fight another day.
There has been much discussion among hurling followers about the last two frees.
The first reaction was that both frees looked soft in the context of how referee Maurice Flynn had refereed the game over the previous 62 minutes. The free out of defence and the free that Henry Shefflin brilliantly slotted between the posts despite a barracking and a near block down by the opposition, were the two softest frees of the day.
The two decisions left James Stephens annoyed.
It sets up next Sunday’s replay nicely.
Shamrocks will feel that they will not play as badly again. James Stephens know that they are as good as the opposition and they can win it at the second attempt.
Last Sunday Shamrocks began the game impressively – and with TJ Reid, Eoin Reid, Colin Fennelly, and Henry Shefflin looking fresh and sharp – they slipped into a 0-7 to 0-2 lead by the 22nd minute. That lead looked comfortable.
The only scary moment came in the 16th minute when Matthew Ruth had a point-blank shot saved by Richard Reid in the Shamrocks’ goal. At half time, there were only four points between the teams, and the city team looked to be in a more comfortable position than they were 10 minutes earlier. But it was difficult to see a James Stephens win, as the workrate in their attack was poor in the opening 30 minutes.
All that changed after the break. The men in green and red looked rejuvenated, and their work rate all over the field intensified.
Two Eoin Larkin points from frees – and the point of the day as the McCormack brothers, David and Eoin, combined to split the posts on the turn – left their team only a point adrift after 43 minutes. It took the Shamrocks a further eight minutes to register a score, as TJ Reid plucked the ball out of the sky and fed the 18-year-old Conor Walsh, who was fouled, and Henry Shefflin tapped over. 0-9 to 0-7.
The momentum of the game swung James Stephens’ way three minutes later. Eoin Larkin jinked his way through the Shamrocks’ defence for David Walton to smash home a ground shot from the edge of the square.
From the puck-out, Hurler of the Year Michael Fennelly was narrowly wide for the Ballyhale men. Shefflin levelled it up with a 63 metre free into the wind, after David McCormack was deemed to have thrown the ball (1-7 to 0-10 ). Then those dramatic final minutes arrived.
Who will win the replay?
James Stephens played the game, particularly the second half, on their terms and they did not get the result. However they came out of the game full of confidence and enthusiasm, and a belief that they can finish the job.
The Shamrocks will expect to play a lot better all over the field. Excluding the opening 20 minutes, they looked flat and they were outfought in the second half. Michael Fennelly kept them afloat in the final 30 minutes until those late frees arrived.
I expect Ballyhale Shamrocks to win the replay in another massive battle.
