Holden hails the impact of King Henry in Ballyhale

Ballyhale Shamrocks weren’t exactly listing dangerously when Henry Shefflin took control of the bridge.

All-Ireland winners just two years previously, the club’s senior hurlers had endured three seasons without a county title when Shefflin became bainisteoir late in 2017 but it’s not like they were about to sink without trace after a spell that had delivered six Kilkenny titles in nine campaigns. Minor ‘A’ winners in 2016, Shamrocks added the U21 equivalent around about the time Shefflin and his brother Tommy were voted in. The raw materials were there but no-one suspected that a run through to St Patrick’s Day was within their immediate compass.