*Ballyea’s Mossy Gavin. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
IN A determined bid to wrestle back the Canon Hamilton, Ballyea have enlisted the services of Galway duo Barry Cullinane and Joe Hession to try and steer the perennial contenders to a third county senior hurling title in four seasons.
It’s the first time in seven years that the four time winners have recruited an outside manager but considering Cullinane’s dual playing CV with Galway at all levels and his clear understanding of the intricacies of such a diverse playing pool in Ballyea, it has proven an ideal marriage of minds leading into this week’s latest championship bid.
“Coming in, we obviously knew the history and tradition of Ballyea and we kind of knew the lie of the land in terms of the league and the players we’d be down and those away. So that allowed us to give opportunities to younger fellas and now we’ve two or three that we’ve a really keen eye on that’ll play in the senior championship probably for the first time. Add in getting our more experienced players back in whether that was from football, injuries along with Tony [Kelly] and Paul [Flanagan] and all in all, the lead up to the championship has been very good”.
With four of the last eight county senior hurling crowns under their belts, the Clare Cup is merely developmental as not unlike Shane O’Donnell, Ballyea are unquestionably a championship team. “I hope we can perform as well as Shane O’Donnell as if we do, we could be lucky enough to go far in this championship.” responded the 2005 All-Ireland Under 21 Hurling and Football championship winner.
“Seriously though, at one stage we played a league game and afterwards I compared it to the 2022 county final squad and we were actually down roughly twenty players between guys away, others involved with other teams and injuries. So in some ways, that’s difficult to manage but in other ways, it’s brilliant as we were training last week with approximately 40 players and we had an A versus B game with some guys having to sit on the sideline for a while so it’s good to have that mix. We knew all this coming into the club and previous managers have faced the same thing and enjoy success so unfortunately if things don’t go well, I can’t use that as an excuse.
“So we just have to manage it as best we can and when we’re looking at the 15 that will probably take to the field, it’s stacked with quality and experience so you’d be hoping that can help us get going in the championship early rather than having to rely hugely on an awful lot of newer lads coming into it”.
They will require all of their vast title-winning know-how to emerge from what is undoubtedly the group of death involving 2022 county final opponents Éire Óg, ever-emerging force Clooney/Quin and firstly on Saturday, none other than county champions Clonlara in Cusack Park (7pm).
Barry told The Clare Echo, “We were actually playing a game the night the draw took place so immediately we knew what a tough task this group was going to be. I suppose the main advantage for whichever two teams do come out, and obviously we’re hoping to be one of them, is that you’ll also have two of the main contenders out of the reckoning by the quarter-finals. It’s a massive task and I suppose the fact that we’ve Clonlara first makes it even more difficult in that you’re taking on the defending champions and obviously everyone is eager to get off the mark in the first game. So a win is major and if you don’t, you’re on the backfoot straight away.
“Clonlara are county champions with five or six on the Clare panel, with Ian {Galvin] and John Conlon taking huge watching. More than that, a bit like Ballyea, winning a county title makes you open the shoulders a little bit more so there will be that extra bit of confidence about them that will make our task more difficult. But that’s the joy of it and this is why we all test ourselves and it will obviously be a hug test this Saturday”.
Ballyea
Management: Barry Cullinane (Manager); Joe Hession (Coach); Alan Hehir (Selector); Kieran Connelly (Physio)
Captain: Paul Flanagan
Key Player: Tony Kelly
One to Watch: Fergal Ginnane
Fresh Blood: Daniel Costelloe, Dillon Killoughery, Darragh O’Neill
Departure Gate: Morgan Garry (emigrated), Pearse Lillis (abroad), Stan Lineen (retired)
Treatment Table: None
Titles Won: 4 (2016, 2018, 2021, 2022)
Last season’s run: Three-in-a-row bid ended by means of the group of death.
Schedule
Round 1 – v Clonlara at Cusack Park, Saturday 7pm
Round 2 – v Clooney-Quin (Weekend of August 23rd-25th)
Round 3 – v Éire Óg (Weekend of September 6-8th)
