Ballygiblin's Shane Beston happy to be back hurling

Twelve months on from missing out on the hurling final last year, and watching from the Hogan Stand, Beston is back in the Ballygiblin starting line-up

ON THE RUN: Ballygiblin's Shane Beston racing away from Horeswood's Sean Hunt during the AIB All Ireland junior club semi-final. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

Twelve months ago, Shane Beston sat in the Hogan Stand. A conflicted spectator.

At the final whistle, two emotions set off doing laps upstairs. There was natural disappointment for his Ballygiblin clubmates, for his friends. But alongside this was a gnawing feeling. A restlessness. An uneasiness.

Could he have helped, Beston thought to himself. Could he have done something - anything - that might have contributed to an outcome that wasn’t a one-point All-Ireland junior club final defeat.

Beston was sat in the Hogan Stand because of those troublesome hips of his. Cartilage problems on either side necessitated a spin under the knife in February 2018. A successful spin under the knife. He went back playing both codes in 2019. And 2020. But a checkup at the end of the latter campaign didn’t go as he might have liked.

A scan showed very little by way of cartilage and so the medical advice was to be careful. A hip replacement in your early 30s isn’t a great look.

Beston decided to cut his load in half for the 2021 season. To continue with football, to park hurling.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great year to not be playing hurling,” he chuckles. “You can imagine how I felt watching on through all of that.” 

By “all of that” he means Ballygiblin’s haul of Avondhu divisional glory, a first Cork junior hurling title, Munster silverware, and an All-Ireland final appearance at GAA HQ.

He truly couldn’t have picked a worse year to go from starter to spectator.

As the start of the 2022 season neared, his restlessness was still raging on. Neither had that gnawing feeling abated.

It had to be balanced, though, against a pair of hips that were still needling him. Between Mitchelstown’s delayed 2020 Cork Intermediate A football final and their return to the same decider for the 2021 edition, Beston found himself kicking ball right through to December 5. Keeping on top of even one code was proving a struggle.

But in the end, heart ruled head and hips.

“I met with the football management at the beginning of 2022 where I told them I was thinking about going back hurling and to see if we could manage the two.

“They could see I was itching to go back. Ultimately, it was my own decision. I said, if I give it a go, I will have no regrets. If the body breaks down, it breaks down. I was able to come to terms with that in the sense that maybe it won’t work, but I didn’t want to have any regrets that I didn’t try again.

“I still felt I could add something to the group, and I’ll be retired long enough. Thankfully, it has worked out well so far. There have been no repercussions, yet.” 

It has worked out more than well. Ballygiblin are on the road back to Croke Park on Saturday. Beston is travelling as a starter, not a spectator.

The 32-year-old contributed three points from play in both the county semi-final and Munster semi-final. In the Munster final, which took place 24 hours after his wedding, he upped his contribution to 3-3.

He’s made a difference, no question about that.

“I was so proud of the lads last year for what they did. But it was tough watching on, I won’t lie. In the back of your mind, you are half thinking, I could still make a difference here.

“When the boys were going up a grade, I wanted to test myself too. I missed hurling. I didn’t think I would miss it as much. I wanted to go back, test myself, and see if I was able to hurl with the boys because I saw how much they improved throughout the year and would I even be able to get back into the team.

“Luckily, I was, and we just kept the run going from last year. It is great to be part of it and I’m delighted I made the decision to come back.” 

Making sure his body held up along the way meant stepping back from the odd training, sitting out most challenge games, and just removing himself from the field anytime he felt his hip stiffen.

That Ballygiblin find themselves in the unusual position of appearing in back-to-back All-Ireland junior club finals has its roots in a Cork county board decision to hand 2022 Munster junior club representation to the winners of the county premier junior championship, and not the junior championship winners, as was always the case.

Ballygiblin still had to go and win the higher grade they were promoted to, but once that was done, all eyes were on Croke Park and atonement. Easkey of Sligo are the last fence on their journey.

“When the lads got out of North Cork in 2021, everything became bonus territory. When you haven’t been in these places before, there is a bit of the unknown. You get belief from winning games. That has spread throughout the team.

“To go up and win in Croke Park with your friends and family would be the stuff of dreams. You can see the lift the last two years has given to everyone in the locality, not just the older generation, everyone. Ballygiblin is a small club. If we can get the job done, it would mean everything to the club.”