This article is from page 71 of the 2011-11-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
WHEN it was all over, Ballyduff’s play everywhere man-of-the-match Mikie Boyle thundered over to the grandstand, scaled much of the wire and with his right hand that broke Éire Óg hearts all afternoon gave a series of fist-clenched salutes to their Kerry Kop.
Fully five minutes later, the crescendo that greeted Ballyduff’s victory had barely died down when Éire Óg boss Tony Nugent tried to explain away where it all went wrong for his emerging side.
Yes, Ballyduff were a senior side and Éire Óg were intermediate. But it was still Kerry v Clare in hurling, with the mantle of favourites always going to fall with Éire Óg, something they ultimately couldn’t live with in the face of Ballyduff’s powerplay.
“To have trained hard since last February and to finish up here,” reflected Nugent (below), with his words barely audible above the din. “They might never get a chance like this again. It was a huge opportunity for them. They know that as well.
“We knew Ballyduff would be good and they proved that today. We saw them against Courcy Rovers in Coughduv and we know ex – a c t l y what they w e r e going to br i ng. It wasn’t i nt erm e d i a t e h u r l ing out t here, it was senior hurling.
“They are a senior team, with big strong men and if we were to try and mix it with them, we were going to come off second best. The conditions suited them. We have a small halfforward line and we need the ball to be going at 90 miles an hour. It suited their game.
“The only thing is, if we played Ballyduff in June, July or August – September even, I think the game would be different. The ball would be moving faster and we would be better. With small, slight guys, if it’s too slow for them, they’re going to get knocked out of it. If it’s moving fast they’re better,” he added.
Of course, the one exception over hour was Éire Óg’s star man, Davie O’Halloran – probably the smallest man on the field but head and shoulders above every other Townie on the field, winning lavish praise from Nugent for his attitude and application of a gameplan responsible for bringing the Townies back into the senior ranks.
“Davie was Davie,” said the former Clare senior captain. “He brings huge intensity to it. At the start of the year we wanted to defend from number 15 back, not from number one up. In fairness they did that and Davie’s number 15 and he works extremely hard for us.
“He got his few scores today and fair play to him. He’s the type of guy I’d be looking to for the future of Clare hurling – a guy like him inside in the corner, giving you everything.”