Joey Holden: Ballyhale Shamrocks embraced four-in-a-row talk

Ballyhale Shamrocks’ Joey Holden in action against Owen Wall of O’Loughlin Gaels. Picture: INPHO/Ken Sutton

Ballyhale Shamrocks’s veteran Joey Holden has revealed the players were highly motivated by completing the four-in a row coming into Sunday’s Kilkenny SHC final victory over O’Loughlin Gaels.

The club’s second such feat, Holden spoke of how it had been highlighted in chats in the run-up to the game. “In the last two weeks, since we got to the county final, we didn’t shy away from the fact that we were going for four in a row. We used it as a determination.

“This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this group of players. Lads will come, lads will go but for this group of players it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so why not use that as a motivation rather than as a pressure? We didn’t shy away from it.

“Listen, we just like hurling, we just enjoy it and we enjoy making these people on the field very, very happy and that’s what we’ve done today so that’s all we concentrate on.”

Taking over from Henry Shefflin, Holden praised James O’Connor for building on what the Kilkenny great accomplished. Completing the second half of the four in a row, the Waterford native has again delivered following successful stints with Carrigtwohill and Fr O’Neills. “Yeah, one line, when James came in first, one line he came in with, ‘I’m not here to change what ye do, I’m just here to sharpen the knife’ and I think that’s what he has done. He’s got a good bit of sharpness to us.

“It’s a long year for club lads when they go back, starting, to see the future six months down the line, to keep lads motivated and keep lads on song, it’s a tough job but he’s done it fierce well and he’s got his rewards.”

Holden doesn’t look back on last year with disappointment bearing in mind they weren’t able to defend their Leinster and All-Ireland crowns having won those competitions the two previous years.

“Ah not really. If you’re debating that and keeping that in your mind you’d be down the whole time. Hurling was a secondary thing compared to people’s health and that so you can’t put that ahead of people’s health.

“Maybe it was an opportunity missed but, like, I’m happier that everyone got through it and my family members are happy. That’s more important than a game of hurling, at the end of the day. Listen, it’s on this year, we’ll give it a rattle but this was the number one important thing and we’ll see how it goes after that.”

Being able to see who they were playing for at the final whistle made this year’s success that bit sweeter than last season’s victory over Dicksboro when no supporters were permitted into UPMC Nowlan Park.

“We don’t gear ourselves up on what the opposition are going to do or what they said about us, it’s what we represent on the field and we represent our families and to win it for them and then celebrate with them makes it special.”