*Clare minor captain, Graham Ball. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
A SIMPLE approach of outworking your opponent has been placed top of the agenda for Clare’s minor hurlers and captain Graham Ball.
Graham leads Clare into battle for Saturday’s All-Ireland minor hurling final which throws in at 17:15 in FBD Semple Stadium. The St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield clubman is bidding to follow in the footsteps of John Reddan (Sixmilebridge) in 1997 and Eoghan Gunning (Broadford) in 2023 to lift The Irish Press Cup.
Alongside Dara Kennedy, Liam Murphy and Paul Rodgers, he is one of four survivors from last year’s side which contested both the All-Ireland semi-final and Munster final.
Experience gained last season in what was Brian O’Connell’s final year as minor manager was a big asset, he explained. “I learned a lot last year when we got to the All-Ireland semi-final and the Munster final, we lost in extra time unfortunately in the All-Ireland semi-final but it definitely helped the last day against Cork because I wasn’t as nervous as last year when I would have been that bit younger but it has definitely helped with the experience and stuff, it has helped the likes of Dara Kennedy, Paul Rodgers and Liam Murphy who have been incredible this year so it has definitely helped”.
His older brother Darragh was part of the county panel last year. “He’s a year older than me. It was enjoyable training with him, he is always pushing me on, he gets the best out of me and even with the club last year he is able to get the best out of you, if I’m not at the races he’d let me know and he’d get me there in fairness. He likes to keep it positive to be fair to him, sometimes he will take the piss out of you but that is normal, he is very positive and he’s actually nice to me in fairness”.
Ever-present at midfield, this year he has had the role of captain added to his duties. “It’s a privilege when you get the captaincy for your county, I’ve really enjoyed it, it is such a good group of players especially with a bunch like this it makes it more of a privilege, when you’ve a good group of players around you it’s good”.
Although there has been a change in management with Ger O’Connell succeeding Brian, standards have remained high. “The set-ups are similar enough to be fair because Damien O’Halloran is our coach and he stayed on from last year, it has been very similar but they both have been great sets of management, they’ve been incredible, very good managers, very good coaches”.
Ball continued, “It is very enjoyable, I know we had two losses in Munster to Cork and Waterford but it’s still been really enjoyable because we’ve some great characters in the group and when you have good characters in the group it is good craic coming to training, enjoying it is the main thing”.
Systems and game-plans warrant plenty of focus in any GAA set-up nowadays but the basics of working the hardest are essential for Clare to prevail, Graham felt. This was lacking in their two defeats this year, he said. “We knew workrate was off, you have to have workrate, if that is not there you will know it, in the first half against Cork we were working hard but in the second half things didn’t go our way and we slacked off and Cork got on top of us then, we have to keep the workrate up for sixty minutes and when we get the ball try stay composed on the ball but workrate is the main thing because if that is there then that’s half the battle”.
Spirit was shown in abundance by Clare to cause an upset in the All-Ireland semi-final against Munster champions Cork. “Coming down the line in lots of matches we have dug it out, I know against Waterford they got on top in the last ten minutes with a goal and a few points, they took the game from us but we’ve learned from that, we finished strong against Cork in the semi-final and that was the main thing”.
He continued, “With the likes of Paul Rodgers who is a really good freetaker, in fairness to Paul he has been incredible for us and Liam Murphy inside too, Ian O’Brien, all six of our forwards really, Rory Ralph and you saw the impact of John Barry when he came on the last day, Dara Kennedy at centre back has been magnificent for us, we have the players one to fifteen but it’s about bringing the hunger, desire and being willing to win an All-Ireland”.
On what to expect from Waterford, the St Flannan’s College student outlined, “They have good forwards, their full-back line is very good and their half-back line, one to fifteen for them and the subs that came on that day were brilliant. Waterford outworked us that day and got the result, coming down the stretch in the last fifteen minutes they took the game so if it’s coming down the stretch and there’s one or two points in it we’re going to have to do our best to take it, get a few points on the board, keep the pressure on and keep our tackling going, hopefully then we can get the result we want”.
School holidays assist with the preparation for the big day, the Barefield seventeen year old said. “It’s definitely great to be off school, I won’t be complaining about that, it’s good for recovery after matches that you’ve a few days off, you can get prepared for training and matches so it is definitely good to be off school. Some of us are trying to take it all in, we’re coming off a really good performance and a high so we’ll try bring it back down and keep all eyes on the game, it is an All-Ireland final and we all know that but we have to play the game not the occasion”.
