Cha ready for redemption

FOR Cha Fitzpatrick and his colleagues on the Ballyhale Shamrocks hurling team who take the field in Croke Park this afternoon against Portumna, February 22, 2009 is a day of infamy in this proud and hurling-mad Kilkenny parish.

It was a day of humiliation for a club with one of the finest records in club hurling history. That afternoon, in Thurles, in front of a heaving crowd, they took the field with hopes high. Two years earlier they had been All-Ireland champions and were optimistic that they could knock Portumna — the reigning champions — off that perch and reclaim the title for themselves.

Oh, how they fell. 2-2 to zip behind after five cyclonic minutes, Ballyhale clawed back some respectability by the break to trail 3-7 to 1-7. Another whirlwind nine minutes, however and another 2-2 conceded sucked the life out of their fight. They lost by seven points, but for a team that takes its representative duties so seriously (the club, the parish, all the generations that have gone before, Kilkenny, Leinster), this one left a sense of shame, of dishonour. Little wonder then that this was a day Cha never wanted to re-visit, but re-visit it he did, and it wasn’t any prettier second time round.

“It was last weekend,” he explained, “We played Dublin in a challenge match and after that we sat down in a room and watched the game against Portumna from last year.

“It was the first time I saw it — it wasn’t very nice to look at.”

It had to be done, though. “Yes. You can argue against it, that it’s better not to dwell too much on previous performances. But it was definitely a good thing to do because we could see all the mistakes we made, and we made a lot. We were blown out of the water. You have to analyse what you are doing and how you are playing. We are very determined now not to let it happen again.”

Very determined, very motivated also. “There is definitely an amount of motivation there. I suppose after we got beaten it was in the back of our minds that in 12 or 13 months’ time there could be a chance we would meet Portumna again, on St Patrick’s Day, but we had to concentrate on winning our own county first, because that’s very hard to do.” After winning Kilkenny — their fourth in a row — it was Leinster, then Newtownshandrum in that semi-final. And now finally, Portumna.

Cha didn’t play well on that fateful day last February, not his usual form given that he had been one of the most consistent performers for both club and county for many years. Then again he wasn’t his usual self either, had been weakened with an attack of the mumps. But that was then. Now, Cha is back to full fitness, back to full hurling form, and just rearing to go.

“I am feeling strong, I have a lot of work done since Christmas and am 100% fit at this stage. We got a lot of good matches, challenges against the likes of Waterford and Dublin (and Ballyhale won both fairly easily) and a good competitive match when we played Newtownshandrum (in the semi-final).

“I think that should stand to us. We have no injuries, everyone seems to be as fit as they are going to be.”

Everything in place then, says Cha: “It’s set for a cracking match, even from the neutral’s point of view. Portumna are a serious team that would beat most inter-county teams. They’ve played together for a long time so they know each other’s styles. They are very confident and deserve to be favourites. I just hope we are better prepared this time, I think we can give a better account of ourselves. Fitness wise we are in better condition and our first touch is that bit better.

“There’s a bit of freshness about us and a bit of hunger. We realise we have a great chance to get back on top but we have to pull out all the stops and hurl to our potential.”