Shamrocks take title no. 21 as Loughs crushed
BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
St Canice’s Credit Union Kilkenny SHC Final
Shamrocks Ballyhale 1-18 O’Loughlin Gaels 0-12
Rumours of Shamrocks Ballyhale’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. With Henry back at the helm, the south Kilkenny side moved ahead of Tullaroan to become the most successful side on Noreside, as the Tom Walsh Cup returned to Páirc na Seamróg for a 21st time. The hurt of the past couple of seasons was well and truly put to bed as Shamrocks dominated and thoroughly deserved their 9-point victory at UPMC Nowlan Park. Eoin Cody’s major in the 34th minute was the springboard that set Shamrocks on their way, and the Holden Plant Rentals sponsored side lead the decider from that point to the long whistle.
Henry’s team were dealt a blow, when his nephew, Evan was ruled out of the final due to an ongoing injury that time was against. He was replaced in the starting XV by Paddy Mullen, who was successful in having his red card against the ‘Boro overturned. When referee Conor Everard got matters underway, it was the city side that struck first, Owen Wall popping a pass to Fionan Mackessy who batted over inside 20 seconds. Shamrocks were level moments later, when Eoin Cody gave the ball to the powerful Ronan Corcoran who split Stephen Murphy’s posts from the left sideline. TJ opened his county final account inside 8 minutes, from a’65, as Fionan Mackessy headed to the sideline for some running repairs with a touch of claret on his jersey.
A pair of Mark Bergin free’s followed as the Loughs regained the lead, Conor Heary drawing the fouls on both occasions. A burst out of defence from Jordan Molloy saw Paddy Deegan move the ball to the former who raced towards the ‘45 before firing over off his left side to double his sides lead. A misplaced pass back to his keeper from Tony Forristal, gave TJ a chance from a ‘65 and the veteran forward split the posts, to make it a 1-point game again. The same player levelled matters seconds later, after Eoin Cody was fouled. Brian Hogan’s men retook the lead when Fionan Mackessy took a lovely pass before turning Joey Holden and striking over, pure quality from the Kingdom native. Mark Bergin added to his tally with another placed ball in the 21st minute, again Conor Heary the fouled player.
The next score was a lovely one, pure skill shown by TJ, converting a sideline cut from out on the left. A Long ball into Paddy Mullen caused a little panic in the Loughs defence, and the late inclusion managed to handpass to Eoin Cody whose shot was smothered by the advancing Stephen Murphy. There was an advantage in play, so TJ duly slotted the resulting free to deadlock matters once more. Some patient play by Shamrocks saw the roaming Eoin Cody take a pass from his keeper and then give the ball to Darragh Corcoran who sent over a booming score from midfield to the delight of the Ballyhale support as they went one point clear. The lead didn’t last long, as Owen Wall popped a pass to Mikey Butler who rifled over off his left side. Referee Everard saw a little too much holding on Eoin Cody by his intercounty teammate Paddy Deegan, a free, another score from TJ. The final score of the opening period came from another placed ball, this time an O’Loughlin’s one and the hurl of Mark Bergin as the sides head to the changing rooms tied at eight points apiece.
When play resumed, it would be Shamrocks that edged ahead, thanks to a lovely effort from Liam Barron. Some great pressure from O’Loughlin’s saw the ball worked to Conor Heary and the classy stickman, split the posts from ‘45 out. Then came the only major of the county final. It looked like the Loughs had repelled the opposition attacking move, but Niall Shortall managed to flick the ball away from Huw Lawlor. Eoin Cody collected it and rifled the sliotar beyond Stephen Murphy to push his side 3 points ahead. Hogan’s charges suffered another blow when placed ball expert Mark Bergin was forced off injured and replaced by Robbie Buckley. TJ then struck over a long range free from halfway to make the lead four.
Shamrocks then turned over Paddy Deegan, TJ putting in the hard yards before passing to Niall Shortall who fired over a tidy point. Henry’s team built on this by converting another ‘65 as the 20 times Tom Walsh Cup winners looked to turn the screw. O’Loughlin’s threw on Jamie Ryan in place of Eoin O’Shea as they sought to turn the tide. Stephen Murphy was called into action again to deny the rampaging Darragh Corcoran a certain goal, the netminder showing his undoubted quality. Great defending from Joey Holden and TJ saw the latter deliver the ball into the danger zone, where Paddy Mullen flicked it towards Eoin Cody who popped over a nice score. Eoin Kenneally, who again was getting through a mountain of work, gave a pass to Richie Reid who pointed from his own ‘65, the Shamrocks lead was now 8 points.
The Reid brothers then combined to raise the cheers of the Shamrocks faithful, Richie playing a low pass to TJ, who found the target from close to the sideline on Walsh Stand side of UPMC Nowlan Park. Robbie Buckley’s direct running then won a free which Conor Kelly struck over, for only his sides second point of the half with nine minutes of normal time remaining. Dara Mason then replaced Brian Butler in defence, while the ineffective Luke Hogan was withdrawn with Greg Kelly entering the fray. A coming together by a couple of players resulted in numerous players getting to know each other, a couple even made their way towards the stand! When things settled, ref Conor Everard spoke with his linesman before flashing a red card to the Loughs Conor Kelly. His side not only 8 points down, now a man down. The numerical advantage paid dividends immediately with Richie Reid splitting the posts from ’downtown’ again.
Another rare score in the second half followed for O’Loughlin’s, this time Fionan Mackessy notching a point from a free. Paddy Mullen was then booked for a foul on the Loughs keeper, which saw more pushing and shoving, but Henry did the wise thing by sending Stephen Barron on in place of the Shamrocks enforcer. TJ then won and converted a free after Ronan Buckley fouled the games top scorer. Owen Wall then got on the scoresheet with the aid of a post, but it was goals his side needed with the game in stoppage time. Fittingly, the final score of the 2025 county final came from the wizard that is TJ Reid. He won the ball before spinning away from Tony Forristal to fire over. Full time score – Shamrocks Ballyhale 1-18, O’Loughlin Gaels 0-12.
Scorers for Shamrocks Ballyhale: TJ Reid (0-11, 0-6 frees, 0-2 ‘65s, 0-1 sideline) E Cody (1-1); R Reid (0-2); D Corcoran, R Corcoran, L Barron, N Shortall (all 0-1).
Scorers for O’Loughlin Gaels: M (0-4 frees); F Mackessy (0-3, 2 frees); J Molloy, O Wall C Heary, M Butler (all 0-1), C Kelly (0-1 free).
Shamrocks Ballyhale: D Mason; K Corcoran, J Holden, B Butler; P Mullen, R Reid, D Corcoran; E Kenneally, R Corcoran; A Mullen, E Cody, TJ Reid; L Barron, B Cody, N Shortall.
Subs for Shamrocks Ballyhale: Dara Mason for Butler (51); M Fitzpatrick for B Cody (56); S Byrne for Mullen (59); F Shefflin for Barron and C Walsh for R Corcoran (both 62).
O’Loughlin Gaels: S Murphy; T Forristal, H Lawlor, M Butler; R Buckley, P Deegan, J Molloy; J Nolan, E O’Shea; L Hogan, C Kelly, C Heary; O Wall, F Mackessy, M Bergin.
Subs for O’Loughlin Gaels: R Buckley for Mackessy (8-9) and Bergin 39); J Ryan for O’Shea (44); G Kelly for Hogan (51).
SHERRY SAYS…..
Come in Number 21! Shamrocks Ballyhale are county champions once more and no one on Noreside has more Tom Walsh Cups than the south Kilkenny machine. We were all expecting this to be tight encounter, with maybe one or two points between the sides, but Henry’s men channeled their recent hurt and were worthy 9-point winners. Had their radar been in during the opening 20 minutes, the margin of victory would have been even greater.
TJ, what else can we say about this genius? Eoin Cody, despite hitting several wides, roamed around all areas of UPMC Nowlan Park, getting on a load of ball and scoring the all-important major in the early minutes of the second half. Joey Holden rolled back the years and put in a serious performance at full back, while Richie Reid was like a ‘Dyson’ hoovering up anything that threatened his sides defensive wall. Darragh Corcoran, again, gave a display that should have him back in and around the intercounty setup, a classy hardworking stickman.
It’s Leinster next for Henry and his Shamrocks and a date with Offaly champions, Kilcormac-Killoughey. Comhghairdeas Shamrocks Ballyhale, and hopefully a provincial run for Noreside’s finest.
