TONY KELLY has said an eleven year wait for a second All-Ireland SHC medal has made him appreciate the success even more.
Kelly was named as the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for July fresh from his man of the match display in Clare’s epic one point win over Cork in the All-Ireland SHC final.
He scored 1-4 in the final including a wonder goal that will be remembered for the ages while in the semi-final win over Kilkenny he had 0-3 to his name.
Kilmihil ladies footballer Dervla Higgins who plays her county camogie with Galway received the award for the camogie player of the month for July. The defender was excellent in their quarter-final and semi-final showings against Waterford and Tipperary to appear in the final for the first time since 2021.
Nicola Ward of Galway received the ladies football award for July with Galway midfielder Paul Conroy receiving the gaelic football equivalent. Leitrim’s Ailbhe Clancy and Galway’s Aoife Donohue won the PwC GPA Players of the Month for August in football and camogie with the finals of both codes taking place this month.
July:
Speaking after receiving his award, Tony was quick to play down the genius surrounding his All-Ireland final goal. He remarked, “It’s probably been overblown a bit. Like, I’ve probably seen better goals than it. [Shane] O’Donnell’s goal against Kilkenny last year probably springs to mind. I just thought that was a better goal. I suppose the occasion and the fact that it was an All-Ireland final maybe adds to it. If you scored that goal in a round-robin game or a quarter-final, it probably wouldn’t be as good. Maybe the whole occasion adds to it. I don’t score many goals, I’ll put it to you that way. A lot of the goals I get are maybe from penalties or 21s. But it probably was one of the best goals from play that I’ve scored”.
Backing up their All-Ireland success of 2013 albeit eleven years later has made the sacrifice of inter-county commitment worthwhile, the Ballyea star said. “You win one so young and you’re kind of working down then. Different managements come in and different coaches with different ideas. We were so young in 2013 that we thought it was going to happen, not every year, but maybe every second year. With the minor and U-21 success as well, we just thought it was normal. Then there was nothing in 2014 or ’15, I know we won a league in 2016, but there was nothing again in ’17 and ’18. You were still working so hard and people behind the scenes were sacrificing a whole pile, so it probably just makes it worthwhile. I suppose that’s the way I’d look at it.
“For the last, whatever, fifteen years you’ve been playing inter-county hurling, that second All-Ireland probably just makes the whole inter-county career worthwhile, not only for me but for partners and family. It’s especially for them because they’re the ones who probably put their lives on hold. We’re the ones who love playing but they put their lives on hold and give up so much when we’re travelling and doing whatever. I’m definitely more appreciative that it was worthwhile sticking around and playing. When you win one so young you probably think that you’re going to win another one or win a few, so there’s definitely fulfilment from winning this one”.
Key to their breakthrough has been having a sense of belief that they were talented enough to reach the summit, he explained. “You have to believe that you can compete or get to the business end of the championship. From the start of the year, that is what the goal is – to put yourself in that position. Whether it works out or it doesn’t – for one reason or another – every year is different. You’ve no guarantee next year that we are going to get to the business end of the championship. We’ve been fortunate the last few years, that we’ve been knocking around Munster finals and getting to Croke Park. In those years from 2013 to 2018 we hadn’t been back, for one reason or another. We didn’t play well enough, we didn’t have enough lads playing well enough, we were beaten by better teams. That Galway team, Tipperary, Cork. So, you have to believe”.
On the steps of the Hogan Stand, he compared Clare manager Brian Lohan to a God in his native county. “Here in Clare, he’s revered. Probably more so for being an unbelievable player. He gets the whole preparation angle. He knows what goes into preparing an inter-county time. He knows the work that individuals have to do off the field and on the field. He can be easy-going. He can be savage craic at training. There isn’t a week goes by that he hasn’t got the panel laughing at some stage. What ye see in the media, he probably comes across very stern, very determined, very stand-offish.But inside our own camp, he can be the same but he can be great craic. He can be stern with lads when he has to be in terms of demanding more. But if lads are doing well, he’s a good communicator in terms of getting that across if lads need,” Tony said.
He’ll be part of the Ballyea side this weekend taking on Clooney/Quin in Sixmilebridge on Friday night but looking ahead to next year’s county campaign, ending Clare’s wait for a Munster championship which stretches back to 1998 is top of the list. “We’ve got to the last three [finals]. I think we’ve lost five, some of us have lost five; ’17, ’18, ’22, ’23, ’24. It’s definitely high on the priority list”. He added, “I think there’ll be a clean bill of health in terms of everyone returning, yeah, expecting everyone back again come November or December and being ready to go in the new year”.
