O’Neill’s all out to upset Ballyduff

THE contrast between tomorrow’s Kerry SHC finalists is a stark one.

Champions Ballyduff are bidding for their 23rd title, which would move them ahead of rivals Kilmoyley in Kingdom senior hurling’s roll of honour.

Opponents Crotta O’Neill’s are bidding for their first crown since 1968, with tomorrow’s visit to Austin Stack Park their first decider in 12 years.

Backboned by the Boyle brothers, Liam, Aidan, Mikey and Padraig, Ballyduff are hot favourites for victory. And their manager, new Antrim boss Jerry Wallace, is in confident mood this week.

Wallace said: “The reality is that no matter what I say, Ballyduff are favourites and rightly so. There is fear in Ireland to embrace favouritism but I believe in reverse psychology and going out on the field and dealing with it.

“I firmly believe that if we turn up on Sunday and give a good solid display of hurling over the hour, we are good enough to win” Crotta may take some solace from the fact that Ballyduff were unimpressive in their semi-final win over Lixnaw.

However, their manager, Tipperary native Paddy Williams, must be concerned by the sides’ tendency to drift out of games after the change of ends. Williams has also called on his side to ‘step up to the plate’ if star man Shane Nolan is curtailed tomorrow.

“They will of course target Shane who is one of best young hurlers in the county. But we’ve spoken about that. It’s time for the others to step up to the plate and I am sure they will”.

But he insisted: “We’ve done the hard work. The training is complete. Now it’s just a question of tweaking a few things and talking them through a few options.”