Wilderness years provide motivation for hopeful Hogan
Loughlins were up against Cork and Munster champions Newtownshandrum; they dominated the final quarter, went on an unanswered six-point run to turn a five-point deficit into a lead by a single point, and had all the momentum in their favour.
But they couldn’t close the deal. Into the second minute of injury-time, and Brian and his team-mates can only stand and watch as Ben O’Connor drills a free from wide right over their heads, levelling the game.
They had another chance a week later. The Gaels had been taken by surprise in the first encounter by the high-tempo possession game that had been honed and perfected by the boys from the little half-parish in north Cork, but had got to grips with it for a finish.
In the replay, their superior size and physicality, allied to their undoubted hurling skills, would surely see an end to Newtownshandrum and see the Gaels into the All-Ireland final and almost certain victory against the Ulster champions Dunloy.
It didn’t pan out that way. Newtown again blew them away in the opening quarter, leading 0-6 to 1-0 after 12 minutes, and though O’Loughlin Gaels managed to claw their way back into it, trailed by a point at half-time, they were tied at the three-quarter mark, and this time it was Newtownshandrum that finished with a surge. They won that semi-final replay, and duly went on to All-Ireland glory.
So close for big Brian, and in spite of all the honours won with the county team since then — he was a vital member of the Kilkenny four-in-a-row team — it’s still a raw memory.
“Personally, it was a huge disappointment; I think they learned more from the drawn game than we did. The game was there for us the first day, we had it, but one or two mistakes in the last few minutes allowed them to draw level. You wonder then, will you ever get that chance again?
“Ballyhale were coming strong in Kilkenny, so were James Stephens, and it’s taken us seven years to get back to this position again. You’d love to be able to turn back the clock — you’re watching the games on TG4 (All-Ireland club championship) and thinking, ‘I’d love to be back out there.’ It was disappointing, definitely, and the fact that a couple of Kilkenny clubs won the All-Ireland afterwards didn’t make it any easier (James Stephens the following year, Ballyhale Shamrocks in 2007 and ‘10).
“But it is a really tough competition to win. You’re coming up against champions in every round and the further you get, the more difficult it becomes. Look, if it was easy there’d be no satisfaction in it. The older lads, we know what it’s like to lose at this level.”
They’re coming up against another champion team in the Leinster club senior hurling final this Sunday — Wexford champions Oulart-The-Ballagh, and, unusually for a Kilkenny team at any level, they find themselves as underdogs. A little added pressure then from inside their own county to maintain a proud tradition in Leinster, but, Hogan says, even more pressure from within the squad itself.
“You have to put pressure on yourself, that’s where it really matters. We know ourselves it’s never easy to get out of Kilkenny so when you do, you have to push on and take advantage of every opportunity. We know there’s a chance there for us to win a Leinster title, but we know we’re up against it.
“Oulart-The-Ballagh have edged closer and closer, and were very unlucky a couple of times in the last few years. The club scene is different to the county scene, a lot more even. They’ve been the dominant team in Wexford for years. They ran Ballyhale so close in ‘09 so it’s easy to understand why they’re favourites this year — they’re certainly more experienced at this level than we are.
“We still have a few who were there with us in 2003, but that’s seven years ago. They want to make the final breakthrough, so do we. We’ve learned from 2003, you have to make the most of your opportunity when it comes; because it might never come again.”
A COUPLE of months late but finally we get the 2010 Leinster Club SHC final – will it be worth the wait? Hopefully yes, and after three postponements you’d think the players are only straining at the leash to get into it. Temperatures have been dropping again this week but the signs are good for Dr Cullen Park tomorrow.
Picking a likely winner, even back at the tail end of the 2010 season, was difficult enough – picking a likely winner now is close on impossible, given the long break.
Oulart-The Ballagh were quickly handed the favourites’ tag for provincial honours, after the reigning All-Ireland champions Ballyhale Shamrocks were toppled in Kilkenny.
But don’t forget it was the Gaels who beat them before accounting for Carrickshock in the Kilkenny final, the team most people saw as natural heirs to Ballyhale.
And remember too, O’Loughlin’s went on to record a fine win over a star-studded Ballyboden St Enda’s (Dublin) in the semi-final.
What of Oulart-The Ballagh? They are an impressive outfit including the skilful Jacob brothers, Rory and Michael, full-back Keith Rossiter and former county star Des Mythen. Yet despite such talents they struggled to get past Westmeath champions Raharney in their semi-final.
I didn’t see Oulart in 2010 but did see O’Loughlin’s, and they’re a solid outfit, big, strong, good hurlers, full of heart. And these are still very much winter conditions — and I would be very slow to back against them.
- Verdict: O’Loughlin Gaels.
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