Hurling & Camogie

Ballyhale know-how enough to see off gutsy Dunloy to win ninth All-Ireland crown

Dunloy's Nigel Elliott under pressure from Ballyhale's Paddy Mullen and Richie Reid during yesterday's All-Ireland final Picture Mark Marlow.
Dunloy's Nigel Elliott under pressure from Ballyhale's Paddy Mullen and Richie Reid during yesterday's All-Ireland final Picture Mark Marlow. Dunloy's Nigel Elliott under pressure from Ballyhale's Paddy Mullen and Richie Reid during yesterday's All-Ireland final Picture Mark Marlow.

AIB All-Ireland Club Senior Hurling Championship final: Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilkenny) 1-22 Cuchullain’s Dunloy (Antrim) 1-15

THE Holy Grail probably feels as far away as ever for the Dunloy hurlers this morning.

Yesterday was the club’s fifth All-Ireland final defeat as serial winners Ballyhale Shamrocks of Kilkenny claimed their third All-Ireland in four years and proudly top the roll of honour list with a fabulous nine titles.

For all of Dunloy’s gallant efforts, they got close but not quite close enough.

In the end, justice was served in Croke Park on a pitch surface that resembled Tyrella Beach more than a hurling field, and where a sand wedge was probably more useful than a hurl.

Outside the defeated changing rooms, Paul ‘Shorty’ Shiels commented: “The pitch was awful – and I don’t like saying that. It was very, very difficult to lift the ball.”

In a belated stab at diplomacy, the Dunloy captain added that it was the same for both teams. And it was, but the surface undoubtedly hindered Dunloy’s noted attacking play.

By the time players managed to scoop the ball into their hands - sometimes at the second or third attempt - those precious half seconds allowed defences to set up properly as the middle sector of the field became desperately congested with rucks galore.

Nevertheless, Ballyhale displayed the renowned toughness of champions. Their half-back line never gave an inch and Joey Holden was superb at number three.

Dunloy can punch holes in most defences they encounter – but they found it exceptionally difficult to pull or stretch the Kilkenny men in any meaningful direction.

The Leinster men did their homework on Dunloy too and snuffed out their danger men.

Keelan Molloy was never going to be allowed to run into the wide open prairies that St Thomas’s allowed him to run into during the semi-final.

Paddy Mullen stuck to Molloy like glue for the entire hour and more. And when the Antrim attacker did escape a tackle, Mullen and Evan Shefflin accepted yellow cards for felling Dunloy’s number 13.

From a Ballyhale perspective, this was a job well done. For Dunloy, it was deeply frustrating to see their talisman being pushed to the fringes by both fair and foul means.

Further forward, Conal Cunning was always heavily outnumbered when the ball was launched in his general direction. And that was another emerging problem for Dunloy: too many of their passes into the full-forward line ended up in no-man’s land.

Put simply, Dunloy just couldn’t open their legs and get a run at Ballyhale.

At the other end of the field, Eoin Cody rose to the occasion and landed a game-winning 1-5 from open play.

Eoin McFerran had really good spells on TJ Reid, but the 35-year-old’s ability to roam, gain possession and launch Ballyhale attacks was impressive.

And, apart from an early ’65 that landed short, Reid was brilliant from placed balls in this scrappy final.

Every time Dunloy threatened to get back on level terms it was either one of his ‘65s or an Eoin Cody score that sucked the life out of the Antrim and Ulster champions.

Regrets? Dunloy will have quite a few.

Ballyhale’s 16th minute goal that cancelled out Ronan Molloy’s early three-pointer was a real giveaway from Dunloy’s perspective.

The Cuchullain’s defence had a couple of opportunities to clear the danger, but Colin Fennelly grabbed the loose ball and found Eoin Cody on his left side who slapped the ball home under no pressure.

Nobody in the north Antrim village will want to watch the period of missed opportunities between the 47th and 50th minutes.

Seann Elliott raced clear in the middle of the field but his effort dropped well short. Seconds later, Declan Smyth – a 45th minute substitute for Nicky McKeague – dropped another short.

The trend continued in the 50th minute. Nigel Elliott broke an unprecedented number of Ballyhale tackles but just couldn’t get enough purchase on his strike for a score.

Still, Dunloy were well in this final approaching the last 10 minutes of normal time with the unsung Ronan Molloy making it a one-point game (1-14 to 1-13).

But it was in those game-defining minutes that Ballyhale showed the muscle memory of champions by hitting four unanswered points – Eoin Cody, Paddy Mullen, Killian Corcoran and Colin Fennelly finding their range – pushing their advantage out to a slightly flattering five points.

Dunloy rallied briefly but were out-scored 0-4 to 0-2 between the 58th and 63rd minutes to lose by seven. There was no last-gasp show, no heart-stopping situations, no twists and no fairytale endings that everyone in Dunloy dreamt about since winning their All-Ireland semi-final before Christmas.

Ballyhale game-managed this final quite brilliantly at times.

And yet, the afternoon started off so brightly for Gregory O’Kane’s men. Joey Cuddihy opened Ballyhale’s account after two minutes with a confident score, but within 60 seconds, Dunloy had rippled the Kilkenny men’s net.

There was so much talk in the build-up about Cunning and Keelan Molloy but it was left to Ronan Molloy to fire home at the Canal End with an angled drive after a nice off-load from Cunning.

Dunloy, though, couldn’t keep their noses in front as Ballyhale chipped away at the scoreboard in the first half.

Eoin Cody was denied goals in the eighth and 26th minutes by a pair of smart saves from Dunloy net-minder Ryan Elliott. But it was by no means an onslaught on the Cuchullain's goal.

Man-of-the-match Cody was hurting the Ulstermen in the opening quarter, especially when he moved into the full-forward line.

However, Conor Kinsella did a good muzzling job on the Kilkenny star after he was given the man-marking portfolio.

Good things were happening for Dunloy though.

Full-back Ryan McGarry handled the goal threat of Colin Fennelly supremely well throughout.

Kevin Molloy intercepted a rake of ball in the sweeper’s role. Young Oran Quinn will forever remember soloing down the middle of the pitch and firing over for his team before returning to sentry duty. Eamon Smyth also hit a scorcher from wing-back.

Paul ‘Shorty’ Shiels hit a point in each half and Cunning’s radar from placed balls was top notch too.

And although Dunloy were always likely to make a mockery of the bookmakers’ pre-match odds, they didn’t quite pack sufficient punch up front to really unnerve Ballyhale.

The poor state of the pitch was definitely a factor but the way Ballyhale tackled, nullified their opponents’ attacking threats, converted enough of their chances and won the aerial battles could only be admired – and all accomplished without injured star Adrian Mullen.

Dunloy’s search for an elusive All-Ireland title continues - and the wheel keeps on turning down in Ballyhale.

Ballyhale Shamrocks: D Mason; K Corcoran (0-1), J Holden, B Butler; E Shefflin (0-1), R Reid, D Corcoran (0-1); R Corcoran (0-1), P Mullen (0-1); N Shortall, TJ Reid (0-7, 0-4 ’65, 0-2 frees), E Cody (1-5); E Kenneally (0-1), C Fennelly (0-2), J Cuddihy (0-1) Subs: B Cody (0-1) for N Shortall (59), D Mullen for K Corcoran (59)

Yellow cards: P Mullen (44), E Cody (49), E Shefflin (59)

Cuchullain’s Dunloy: R Elliott; P Duffin, R McGarry, O Quinn (0-1); C Kinsella, Kevin Molloy, E Smyth (0-1); P Shiels (0-2), E McFerran; R Molloy (1-1), N McKeague (0-1), N Elliott; Keelan Molloy (0-1), C Cunning (0-7 frees), S Elliott (0-1) Subs: D Smyth for N McKeague (45), C McMahon for N Elliott (54)

Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)