Shamrocks Ballyhale roar to 22-point mauling of Tullaroan in Kilkenny SHC decider

TJ Reid of Shamrocks Ballyhale celebrates. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Kilkenny SHC final: Shamrocks Ballyhale 2-24 Tullaroan 0-8 

This was a Kilkenny SHC final rich with tradition, the county's first ever winners, Tullaroan, facing the last ones, Shamrocks.

But there was little in the way of sentiment displayed by a rampant Ballyhale who made light of the stiff wind and cool conditions to roar to a massive 22-point win.

Adrian Mullen, with 1-3, headed up a 13-strong list of scorers which also included veteran TJ Reid, 0-5, and teenage goalscorer Jake Mullen, Adrian's younger brother.

Adrian Mullen's goal arrived in the opening seconds and indicated the sort of torment that lay ahead for an outthought and badly outfought Tullaroan, who were competing in their first final since 1994.

The other intriguing backstory to the showpiece was the county roll of honour with Shamrocks claiming a 21st title last year and leapfrogging the 20-times champions Tullaroan.

The opportunity was there for David Mulcahy's Tullaroan to balance up the record books again but they were ill equipped to overcome a Shamrocks side that we could be seeing a lot of this winter.

They scored virtually at will and, defensively, restricted a heretofore excellent Tullaroan team to just eight points, and only four points from open play.

Managed by Mark Aylward, record Leinster and All-Ireland winners Shamrocks will return to the provincial scene on November 8 to play Laois winners The Harps in a Portlaoise quarter-final.

With a strong wind blowing down the pitch towards the O'Loughlin Gaels clubhouse, in favour of the holders initially, it was a question of how much of a lead Shamrocks could build up.

They set about their task immediately, securing possession from the throw-in and working a move that ended with Adrian Mullen following up on a blocked shot and sweeping the ball home.

Just 23 seconds had elapsed and already Shamrocks were on the front foot.

Tullaroan didn't score until the 15th minute, at which point they'd already coughed up 1-6, and the underdogs' first point from play, which was their only other score in the entire half, didn't come until the 25th minute.

That was one of the few times that Tullaroan actually broke Kilkenny's defensive line with a series of passes, clearing John Walton to tap over.

County star Martin Keoghan wore number 10 for Tullaroan but started in the inside forward line. He was well shackled by Killian Corcoran and didn't get much delivery his way anyway.

The few first-half chances that did fall Tullaroan's way weren't taken either with free-taker Shane Walsh driving two of his three point attempts wide in the opening 30 minutes.

In Walsh's defence, he was shooting from an angle into a powerful breeze for the two that skewed wide.

Meanwhile, Shamrocks continued to rack up the scores at the other end, seven different players in white registering points by the interval.

Wing-back Evan Shefflin scored three of those, all booming scores which underlined just what an advantage the wind was to them.

The number five let out a huge roar after the third of those points in the 28th minute. It came after a turnover in the Tullaroan attack and only confirmed that, with or without the wind, Shamrocks were on top in pretty much all departments.

Adrian Mullen wore number 13 for Shamrocks but played at midfield while TJ Reid, mainly stationed in the full-forward line, was marked by Tomás Dunne. Eoin Cody had former Kilkenny colleague Padraig Walsh for company. On the right wing, Brian Cody got through a tonne of great work when the game was still a contest.

Tullaroan clearly needed a lightning start to the second half but when Shamrocks registered another 1-3 without response, the game was already up.

Jake Mullen, still a minor and a Leinster U-20 finalist with Kilkenny last summer, scored Shamrocks' second goal after clever buildup play down the left by Eoin Cody and Reid.

Eoin Cody and Richie Reid added points as Shamrocks turned the screw. It told a tale of Tullaroan's difficulties and how far they were off it that both players had time, and acres of space down the left, to get their strikes away.

Shamrocks went for further goals but Tullaroan goalkeeper Niall Holland pulled off a series of exceptional stops, twice from Adrian Mullen and twice from Eoin Cody.

It hardly mattered because Shamrocks kept chipping away with the singles and subs Liam Barron, Dylan Aylward and Michael Barron all sniped scores.

The closest Tullaroan came to any sort of purple patch was a three-in-a-row of points between the 48th and 50th minutes from Dylan Simpson and Shane Walsh.

Scorers for Shamrocks Ballyhale: Adrian Mullen 1-3, TJ Reid 0-5 (3f, 1 65), Eoin Cody 0-4, Jake Mullen 1-0, Evan Shefflin 0-3, Darragh Corcoran 0-2, Ronan Corcoran 0-1, Niall Shortall 0-1, Brian Cody 0-1, Richie Reid 0-1, Liam Barron 0-1, Dylan Aylward 0-1, Michael Barron 0-1.

Scorers for Tullaroan: Dylan Simpson 0-3 (1f, 165), Shane Walsh 0-2 (0-1f), John Walton 0-1, Martin Keoghan 0-1, Niall Holland 0-1 (0-1f).

BALLYHALE: Dean Mason; Killian Ryan, Killian Corcoran, Joey Holden; Evan Shefflin, Darragh Corcoran, Richie Reid; Ronan Corcoran, Adrian Mullen; Brian Cody, Eoin Cody, Liam Barron; Niall Shortall, TJ Reid, Jake Mullen.

Subs: Brian Butler for Ryan 43, Cathal Coogan for Jake Mullen 49, Dylan Aylward for Ronan Corcoran 53, Michael Barron for Brian Cody 55, Cian Cullen for Richie Reid 55.

TULLAROAN: Niall Holland; Tommy Walsh, Tomás Dunne, Joe Coughlan; Charlie Cleere, Padraig Walsh, Bill Walton; Martin Walsh, Bill Gaffney; Gearóid Dunne, Shane Walsh, Dylan Simpson; John Walton, Martin Keoghan, Peter Walshe.

Subs: Ciallin Brennan for Padraig Walsh 36, Mark Simpson for John Walton 40, Eamon Holland for Cleere 53, Jim Moore for Walshe 53, Tommy Walton for Coughlan 56.

Referee: Owen Beehan (Fenians).