Sheehan and Ballyea management step down

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*Kevin Sheehan and Barry Coffey. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

Ballyea are on the search for a new senior hurling management.

Kevin Sheehan has stepped down as manager of the Ballyea senior hurlers, calling time on a three year stint in the role. Coach Barry Coffey and selectors Mike O’Neill and John Griffin have also stepped down.

Goalkeeper on the first Ballyea side to win the Clare senior hurling championship in 2016, Sheehan’s first year as manager saw the club claim their second Clare SHC title in 2018, a hard-fought provincial clash with Ballygunner ended his opening year as manager.

Last year saw Ballyea eliminated to Crusheen in the quarter-finals while their semi-final exit to O’Callaghans Mills in 2020 was seen as a big shock considering the form of the men in Black and Amber in the early rounds of the competition.

Sheehan’s time in the hotseat represented his first foray into adult management while Coffey previously held coaching roles with the Clare U21 hurlers and in Newmarket-on-Fergus. Both Griffin and O’Neill have also been heavily involved with Ballyea.

A club spokesperson paid tribute to the outgoing management. “They’ve maintained a consistently high standard of training and preparation in everything they did and were very unlucky not to make the final again this year. They leave the group in a very competitive position having continued to deepen the panel during their time. We’d like to thank them for their huge commitment and loyalty to the club and hope to see them all involved with the club again in some way in the future”.