Disappointment mixed with pride as Ballyhale digest unfamiliar taste of defeat

DISAPPOINTMENT: Jack Nolan of O'Loughlin Gaels in action against Adrian Mullen and Paddy Mullen of Shamrocks Ballyhale during the Kilkenny County SHC final. Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Adrian Mullen is standing alone on the Nowlan Park turf, his head bent, his hurl resting peacefully against his leg.

The 24-year old current All Star accepts commiserations politely but absorbs offers of a handshake with a left hand held out awkwardly. Like his right, it is encrusted in a cocktail of mud and blood. A tapestry screaming the physical toll.

Ballyhale certainly didn’t go down without fighting the good fight but go down they did. It ended a one-point game and when the margins are that minute then every single act that precedes the final whistle takes on an exaggerated importance.

The four unanswered points claimed by O’Loughlin Gaels in the game’s opening eight minutes can’t help but stand apart in that light. That quartet of scores served an abundance of purposes on this day of days.

They were the platform for the underdogs to build on, a repository of faith that stood to them for the hour. They left Ballyhale scrambling for the rest of the half, depriving the holders of the chance to dictate the terms and conditions.

“They brought something in the first 20 minutes, a level of intensity, and we had to match it,” said Mullen who had similar disappointment earlier this year when Kilkenny fell short of Limerick in the All-Ireland final.

“I don’t know, I thought we did [match it] and it was level going in at half-time. Yeah, that level of intensity was crazy for a club game, but that’s what you want to be involved in. They probably kicked on in the last 5-10 minutes and you just have to suck it up.” 

So there will be no six-in-a-row for this great club and its legion of servants. No 21st title and the splendid isolation at the summit of the county’s roll of honour that would have come with it having matched Tullaroan’s total 12 months ago.

And no opportunity to add to their collections of Leinster and All-Ireland titles down the road either. That’s a lot of promise and potential to be whisked away on the back of a single one-point defeat but then the more you have the more you stand to lose.

“It is hard to get your head around it but the feeling right now after the game is probably devastation that you didn’t get over the line but there’s also a feeling of pride about the lads and the journey through the last six years.

“Proud of every single one of them. We were missing a good few lads this year so people were probably giving us little enough of a chance so proud to get back here and push every team so hard… “There was only one point in it at the end so you’re devastated to lose but you have to be able to lose to be able to win as well. It’s all part and parcel of the sport. We’ll dust ourselves down in the next few weeks, enjoy the winter, enjoy the break and come back next year.”