And once more, Kilkenny prevail

AND STILL we learn, as Goya said.

The great Spaniard was talking about oil on canvas but we learned a few things yesterday from Ballyhale Shamrocks’ defeat of Newtownshandrum in the All-Ireland club semi-final. About other masters. About other arts.

The game, which drew just over 6,0000 to Semple Stadium, was worthy, if unspectacular. Given the day that was in it there was more of the last-gasp visit to the service station about the fare than a bespoke order from Interflora, but we took some lessons from it all the same.

We learned that even the most recognisable hurler of his generation can ghost into open prairie, unmarked, late in the game, as Henry Shefflin did, and we learned that Newtown ‘keeper William Biggane is a calm character under pressure.

We mainly learned, though, that while tactics can be imposed through invention and application, the laws of physics are deaf to negotiation.

Newtownshandrum’s running game has been a constant for the last decade, but they never got into gear with that approach yesterday. Ballyhale looked a bigger, stronger combination, and they weren’t in the mood to let their opponents find daylight in Semple Stadium.

They stifled Newtown at every opportunity, and if Cathal Naughton’s speed got him in the clear every so often, it only showed how effective Ballyhale were almost everywhere else. Mind you, their management would have winced at Aidan Cummins’s reckless challenge on Maurice Farrell late in the game, which stifled another run at source.

Another referee might have shown Cummins red, but as it stands the Ballyhale full-back offered Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery some competition for the weekend’s ‘how did he talk his way out of that one’ award.

The Kilkenny champions played to their strengths, which meant Cha Fitzpatrick collecting neatly and delivering promptly. He did so three times in the first five minutes to set his forwards in motion, and when Newtown came sniffing a goal late on he lifted the siege on his own 21-metre line with the same elegance and economy. An ergonomic study of Fitzpatrick’s quick, efficient pull would show not an ounce of misplaced effort.

“We knew it was going to be a serious challenge,” said Fitzpatrick afterwards. “Newtown are similar to ourselves, a rural parish with a small group of talented players. What we wanted to see was good ground and fast ball – we knew that would suit both teams, but it’s what we wanted, though having said that, the wind in the first half suited us.”

It did, and you need only look at the contribution of TJ Reid for proof. So much has been written and said about possession in hurling that Reid’s ability to pick first-half puck-outs out of the sky seemed a little unfair, at times. It was as if someone hadn’t had the good manners to learn the rules of engagement before going onto the field.

For managers and coaches present and future, there was another lesson in Reid’s placement. Lining out at left-half-forward gives a left-hander a natural advantage when it comes to contesting his own team’s puck-out, as the defender usually challenges from the forward’s left shoulder. If the forward is a real ciotog his right hand is free to catch if the ‘keeper can place the ball to his advantage; on yesterday’s evidence James Connolly and Reid have spent many a long evening working on their angles out in Ballyhale, because Shamrocks rode their supremacy there for all it was worth.

The foothold which Reid offered in the Newtown half, not to mention Henry Shefflin’s proverbial accuracy from placed balls, gave Ballyhale the upper hand all through: they had the size up front to win their own ball and take scores from distance, while the Munster champions had to work harder for chances. Newtown came looking for a goal in the second half but Connolly made a fine save from Cathal Naughton and later stopped a Ryan Clifford penalty. Ballyhale held out.

“We were worried,” said Fitzpatrick, “Newtown were in the game until in the end, but we’re delighted with the win.

“This time last year it was a different story. Portumna were the superior team and we had no complaints. They played us off the park last year, and this year is just another chance for us. They’re the top team in the country, they’re going for three in a row, but we’ll give it our all.”

No surprise there. For all the learning we did yesterday, that was a lesson we took on board a long time ago.