Tony Kelly hails the men who stepped up for Ballyea
One of the questions put to Ballyea captain Tony Kelly for a player-profile piece in Sunday’s match programme was what would be the first thing he’d buy if he won the lotto. Kelly’s reply was that he’d purchase a “big business and give jobs to Gudgie (Gearóid O’Connell), Stan Lineen, Cathal Doohan and Pat Joe Connolly. I’d also buy a new knee for Paul Flanagan.”
The five men mentioned by Kelly played no part in Sunday’s come-from-behind Clare hurling final win, the club’s second Canon Hamilton Cup in three years.
O’Connell, Lineen, Doohan, and Connolly, all starting members of the Ballyea team which delivered maiden Clare and Munster crowns late in 2016, are now resident in faraway lands, while Flanagan had surgery on a knee injury early last month.
Throw in goalkeeper-turned-manager Kevin Sheehan, along with the injured Damien Burke, and that’s almost half the team which brought them to an All-Ireland club final 19 months ago.
Sunday’s victory over Cratloe, according to Kelly, was more impressive than their first county title two years ago, solely because of all the first-team regulars who had since departed.
“Just the calibre of player we were missing here, it makes this win more impressive. Gearoid O’Connell is an inter-county hurler, as is Paul Flanagan. No disrespect to the other lads, but Stan, Pat Joe and Cathal Doohan probably would have been playing with the reputations they had two years ago.
Without them lads and what they did two years ago, we definitely wouldn’t be here. You gain experience from winning and there’s that confidence that, maybe, you could win another one. We’ll welcome themback with open arms if they want to come back.
Stepping up to fill the void left by Flanagan, O’Connell and co were Barry Coote, Brendan O’Connell, Aonghus Keane, Tadgh Lynch, Cillian Brennan and Eoghan Donnellan. None of these players featured in their 2016 Clare or Munster final victories.
“It’s very pleasing for the lads that never got to experience it back in 2016. Some lads won a county medal as subs and never got to grace the field. It is extra special for those lads and we are grateful that they were able to bring a performance.
Winning with the lads we did win it with makes it extra special. If anything, it took the pressure off. It was a shot to nothing. Even at the start of the year, within our club, people were saying we had to win our first round so as not to get dragged into a relegation battle. We went from strength to strength as the year progressed.
Sunday’s six-point victory rounded off a memorable weekend for the Kelly household, with Tony’s sister Lorraine tying the knot with Doonbeg’s Frank O’Dea on Saturday.
“We were home early from the wedding on Saturday. We’ll make up for it during the week.”
Meanwhile, former Clare hurler Colin Ryan, writing in the county final match programme, insisted that Limerick would not have fancied meeting Clare in the All-Ireland decider.
“I am of the firm opinion Limerick would not have liked to see us come through the replay against Galway.”
Ballyea's Tony Kelly fires over a point after displaying some superb skill 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Kf1KVYu0Us
— The GAA (@officialgaa) October 21, 2018
Turning to 2019, the All-Ireland medal winner wrote: “Our forward line is one of the most feared in the country, on their day. Getting out of the minefield that is Munster will be the only thing on the minds of the group to start with, but if we do, and throw the shackles off like the second half of both Galway games, we will be feared again.”
