This article is from page 47 of the 2008-06-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 47 JPG
HARD to believe that it’s five years since Ballyea made the headlines as the story of the hurling year.
They became the first Senior B side to reach the county, while the added dimension to the story was they were one part of the first all-parish county final since Kilmurry Ibrickane and Quilty clashed in the 1935 football decider.
The laurels went to their big broth- ers Clarecastle, but it didn’t take from Ballyea’s achievement. They had struck a major blow for the un- derdog, completing a remarkable journey from junior A hurling to sen- ior decider in just over a decade.
Ever since the challenge has been to try and raise the bar as high again. It hasn’t happened, or looking like happening, so much so that Ballyea are looked on as the weakest link in eroup | — whipping boys even.
Thing is, they see things a lot dif- ferently and those around the club are looking forward to this champ1- onship campaign more eagerly than any over the past few years.
There a few reasons for this gen- eral mood of optimism, chief among them being Tony Griffin’s availabil-
ity. This year, the 2006 All Star is back for the entire season, having had his participation truncated in re- cent seasons due to study and charity work commitments.
“It’s great to be back,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to the season ahead.We have a young team, it will be tough, but we’re determined not just to make up the numbers.”
‘“He’s our key man,” says manager Michael O’Neill, “and he brings an awful lot to the team, but at the end of the day he’s one man who would say that it’s all about the lads around him”’.
And, O’Neill believes that this year those other players are better placed for the rigours of senior champion- ship hurling.
“T know we largely have the same group of players, but last year some of them were just out of minor. Play- ing senior was an education for them and they’ll be much better for it this year.
“In the Clare Cup we haven’t been trounced in any game, which hap- pened a couple of times last year, so that’s encouraging. We haven’t buckled in any game and have fought every game out to the end and are not far away from where we want to be.”
This positive outlook can be attrib- uted to the response O’Neill and his fellow selectors have got from the WEN (ouce
“Last year we were very disap- pointed,” he admits, “but this year we can’t question their effort. We got down to basics again and did a gym jeyueycawebaaneatee
“It’s been hard for some lads over the past five or six weeks with ex- ams, but generally since January the lads have given us what they can and we can’t ask for more. All we can do now is hope that they give a good ac- count of themselves when it comes to Weomerutealeey
“Without doubt it’s the toughest group of the lot and our record last year would put us as the weakest team. But this year we beat Tulla when we were missing a few and could have taken Inagh-Kilnamona.
“We believe that on any given day, if we get our act together we’re capa- ble of challenging any team. We have to be on top of our game to challenge the bigger teams — that’s the same with all small clubs, but we like a challenge and we’re up for it. We’re not afraid of any team. Some say we punching above our weight, but we’ll have a go at every team.”