Friday, March 19, 2010
HOW good must it feel in the skin of Henry Shefflin these days? Forget, for a moment, all the honours won, the nine All-Star awards, seven All-Ireland senior inter-county medals, five National Hurling Leagues, three Railway Cups, two All-Ireland club senior titles, twice named hurler of the year (on the treble – Vodafone, GPA and Texaco), and Sports Person Of The Year In 2006.
Think of all that’s been happening just in the last few years for the man now hailed as King Henry.
Last September Kilkenny won a historic fourth-in-a-row All-Ireland title, Henry was captain in 2007; this year then they will be going for five – all on its own, a great period.
Even for someone as feted on the national scene as Henry Shefflin, however, the club is where it all begins and ends, and here too everything is milk and honey. Ballyhale have completed a four-in-a-row of Kilkenny titles, three Leinsters, and on Wednesday, in Croke Park, added a second All-Ireland title to that won in 2007.
"It’s surreal, to be honest," he admitted yesterday in his home village of Ballyhale, the celebrations in full swing; "I was talking about it to my wife (Deirdre) this morning and she said she hoped it wasn’t all passing us by. We’ve just been very lucky, so privileged, and we are enjoying these occasions.
"We’re celebrating today, you can probably hear it in the background – that’s what it’s all about. A few years’ time is probably when we’ll really appreciate it but even at the moment we’re loving it, absolutely loving it, and why wouldn’t we?
"We love doing what we’re doing; there’s a great bunch of lads here in Ballyhale, a great bunch of lads with Kilkenny as well – how could you not enjoy days and years like this?"
Last Wednesday, Galway champions Portumna were going for three-in-a-row, but last year, they’d put five goals past Ballyhale, recording a resounding win. Wednesday was payback.
"It’s up there with the best ever, definitely – the first county final was special but so was this. We had the hurt of last year driving us on, but first we had to get out of Kilkenny, and that was hard.
"The final against the Village (James Stephens) was a real test, then to have to turn around and face Oulart-The-Ballagh (Wexford champions) the following week, which was always going to be a tough game anyway. We showed great heart in that one, we barely got over the line – Eoin Reid got a point to put it into extra-time and got us back into it.
"But little things can make a big difference in a long campaign, and here we are today, celebrating. After Oulart-The-Ballagh we had Ballyboden (Dublin), then Tullamore (Offaly) in the Leinster final; we were playing Newtownshandrum after that, the Cork and Munster champions, another huge test, and to finish it off now by beating the reigning All-Ireland champions – it was very, very tough, but that’s what makes it so sweet.
"They’re a great club side, and it’s the same as in any other sport, you want to test yourself against the best. It’s great to look back on it now that it’s all over and you know you did it, but when we looked at it at the start of the campaign, we knew it was going to be a tough road."
A new management team led by Mick Fennelly took over Ballyhale last year and made changes to the defence – Aidan Cummins going from centre-back to full in a straight swap with team captain Eamonn Walsh, Henry’s brother Paul going from corner-back to wing, and young Alan Cuddihy coming in to the corner. All those changes worked. "Definitely; we learned from last year, we learned that we needed to improve, and we learned where we needed to improve.
"The management this year did that, they made the switches and they worked very well. It didn’t just happen yesterday, we’ve been working on that all year. To be fair, the backs are brilliant; we hurl against them in training and we know just how good they are.
"They hurled as a unit yesterday, kept the Portumna attack very quiet, kept the goal chances to a minimum, and that gave us a great chance. Okay, we could have hurled a small bit better yesterday but overall it was a fine team performance; we put in savage work, everyone did their bit, everyone contributed, and that’s what’s so satisfying as well, that everyone played well. That’s what you need in finals – we’re delighted with it."
It’s back with Kilkenny for Henry and the other county lads soon – but not just yet.
"We’re waiting on the phone call – Dublin this week, in Parnell Park, but I don’t think we’ll be back for that anyway. Maybe we’ll get another few days off!"
© Examiner Publications (Cork) Limited, City Quarter, Lapps Quay, Cork. Registered in Ireland: 73385.