It is straight back into action for newly-crowned county champions James Stephens as they face Wexford’s Oulart-the Ballagh in Nowlan Park this Sunday.
The Village had what the club described as their greatest ever win in their 124-year history when they won the St Canice’s Credit Union Kilkenny senior hurling final replay against arch rivals Ballyhale Shamrocks last Sunday.
It was a massive win after a near miss the previous week.
This Sunday is a whole new challenge as they square up to the Wexford champions in the Leinster Club semi final.
Oulart made their own bit of history three weeks ago when they carved out their first three-in-a-row victory of county championships, overcoming the traditional hurling giants of the county, Rathnure.
Village supporters should not expect a similar performance to those witnessed the previous two Sundays in Nowlan Park. Those two ‘wars’ will have taken their toll on the collective minds and bodies of the team.
How much of a toll remains to be seen next Sunday.
Oulart have plenty of experience in this competition over the past two seasons, taking the Shamrocks to extra time in 2009, followed by a narrow defeat to O’Loughlin Gaels in the Leinster final last year.
Former Wexford star Liam Dunne is the manager and he has a burning ambition to lead his club to provincial and All-Ireland glory. Last year he had little trouble in talking up his team’s chances of winning the title but this year he has been quieter but no less confident or ambitious.
Dunne probably knows that this will be his last chance at glory with his club as he will have to take the job as Wexford senior hurling manager in the coming months.
Oulart have many fine hurlers, with the Jacob brothers, Rory and Michael, Keith Rossiter, Darren Stamp, David Redmond, Garret Sinnott and Lar Prendergast and many other players with inter-county experience.
This is a good club hurling team. They have been the dominant team in Wexford for the past decade.
James Stephens will be playing their third hard game in a row and they could come into this game a bit flat. They will also be without their inspirational captain and centre half-back, Jackie Tyrrell.
Tyrrell has been the key player in defence for the past five years and his drive forward from defence at key times in matches will be sorely missed. It is rare for Tyrrell to come off the field without a point or two to his name in any game.
The Village coped very well in his absence during the second half last Sunday, but it is a completely different story starting a game without him. Donnacha Cody or Philip Larkin are likely candidates to fill the number six shirt with Ray Coady dropping back into the defence from midfield.
Eoin Larkin has shown over the past four weeks that he is back to his best form. He was brilliant in the semi-final win over St Martin’s and he followed that up with a faultless display in the drawn county final. But last Sunday he was a man apart.
His concentration, his focus and touch on the ball, was wizard-like. One of the great individual performances in a county final. It was Eoin Larkin at the peak of his powers.
The new Kilkenny champions have got an incredible consistency of performance out of their lesser known players like John Comerford, Eamon Sheehy, Tomás Keogh and Niall McQuillan during the two county finals. All these players will have to perform to the same levels against Oulart.
It will be a very different challenge because in the games against the Shamrocks these players had very defined roles, playing on opponents they knew very well, doing a man marking job.
Next Sunday will be less structured and they will be without Jackie Tyrrell, it is a new game and a new challenge.
Oulart won a hard physical battle against Rathnure in the county final in very difficult conditions, 1-10 to 0-11. The weight of history also weighed on their shoulders as they had never won three titles on the trot.
They had a recent challenge match against the Cork champions Carrigtwohill and they have had ample time to prepare for the challenge ahead. The Wexford men will be fresh and focussed for Sunday’s clash and how they cope with a strong-running James Stephens half forward line of David McCormack, Eoin Larkin and Mathew Ruth will go a long way to deciding this match.
Oulart-the-Ballagh have their best chance in three years of causing an upset against Kilkenny opposition in the Leinster Club Championship. James Stephens will have to call on all their experience to win this one.
It’s going to be very close.
