*Ballyea’s talisman, Tony Kelly. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
While their second successive Canon Hamilton trophy success last October was a historic breakthrough for Ballyea, one would have to search back half a century to find the last time that a Clare club managed to garner a three-in-a-row of county senior crowns.
Indeed, such cut-throat competitiveness is unrivalled in the province as while Ballygunner are bidding for an unprecedented tenth consecutive Waterford title, the landmark three-in-a-row has been achieved twice in Cork, four times in Limerick and Tipperary and even on five occasions in Kerry in the last 50 years.
Ballyea’s plea for three has not been part of the conversation within the camp at least thus far as having been relegated from the top tier of the Clare Cup and being pooled in the undoubted group of death, a new management team under Leonard McNamara and 2018 winning manager Kevin Sheehan have much more immediate priorities to contend with over the next seven days.
“Three-in-a-row has never been mentioned,” outlined manager Leonard McNamara. “It’s such a tough group and only two can come out of it so unless we perform, we could be out of the championship in the first week. We’ve Kilmaley first then Inagh/Kilnamona the following weekend so you’ve no let up really and we simply have to perform against Kilmaley on Saturday, that’s the bottom line.
“That said, you’re probably better off that you are playing someone that you have to perform against so I wouldn’t have a problem with such a tough start as the players knows what they have to do”.
Ballyea have repeatedly proven masters at knowing what to do and when to do it when it comes to grinding out results and maximising their potential to garner four of the last seven Clare titles. However, for a new manager, the chalk and cheese nature of the split season and such a large inter-county hurling and football contingents did take a bit of getting used to.
Look, the Clare Cup is out the window for us anyway as we haven’t had a full team yet. “We were unlucky with a few results here and there but we obviously didn’t have a good Clare Cup. I was getting worried about it and then I spoke with Robbie [previous manager Robbie Hogan] about it and he said there were times when himself and Reggie [Selector Raymond O’Connor] almost had to tog out so I learned not to read too much into that competition as we’d be lucky to have had five or six of our main guys so far.
“To be honest, before this year, I wouldn’t have known these guys too well. I’ve obviously been watching them from a distance and was involved at underage but have gotten to know them over the past few months and they’re a joy to work with. They’re all leaders and we are only facilitators for them really as they are savage guys to train and push the trainings themselves”,
Along with that core leadership group are a new crop of young talent waiting in the wings to get their chance to stake a claim for a jersey, a conveyor belt that needs to be healthy in order to remain at the top table.
“The real upside to the Clare Cup was that we got to blood a good few young lads. We have four of five new players emerging through at the moment. Maybe some of them mightn’t break through to the team this year but definitely over the next year you’ll see a few of them. They’ve bedded in well with the lads that are in training and to be honesty are getting a bit of a rude awakening as well as to what it takes at this level”,
The back-to-back champions definitely know what it takes and it’s that invaluable experience that McNamara is banking on to be able to hit the ground running against Kilmaley in Cusack Park on Saturday evening (6.30pm).
“They’re a serious team and we’ve seen that over the past few years. They won the Clare Cup last year and had a great start this year before tapering off but look, Ballyea are under no illusions as to the challenge they face, they simply have to perform. And anything other than a big performance won’t do, it’s a simple as that”.
Management: Leonard McNamara (Manager); Kevin Sheehan (Coach/Trainer); Donagh Stack, Francie O’Reilly (Selectors); Mark Cabey (S&C); Kieran Connelly (Physio)
Captain: Niall Deasy
Key Player: Tony Kelly
One to Watch: Cian Kirby
Fresh Blood: Niall Carrigg, Ciaran Connolly, Evan Flynn, Kieran McDonnell, Daragh Moylan, Tadhg Ó hUallacháin
Departure Gate: Pearse Lillis (abroad), Cian Meaney, Barry Coote (injured)
Titles Won: 4
Last season’s run: Champions
Schedule:
Round 1 – v Kilmaley at Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday 6.30pm
Round 2 – v Inagh/Kilnamona at Shannon (Saturday, July 29th), 2pm
Round 3 – v St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield (Weekend of August 11/12/13th)
Round 4 – v Scariff (Weekend of August 25/26/27th)
Round 5 – A bye (Weekend of September 8/910th)
