This article is from page 33 of the 2014-08-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
THEY’VE a pretty special and select club out in Ballyea now.
In the long history of Clare hurling and most times unrequited love for the game where the winning Munster championships are concerned, the bounty that has been enjoyed by Ballyea these past few years is nearly unbelievable.
Apart from the Munster titles that Tony Kelly has won – it now stands at five – not to mention the three AllIrelands between senior and under 21 there are the personal honours.
The hurler of the year x 2 last year, the All Star and last but not least the honour of captaining his county.
He has done it at minor, under and senior – remember he doesn’t turn 21 until early December.
And, thanks to Wednesday’s win he’s made that select club out Ballyea way.
It’s like this – up until last year there were only three men who’d captained their county to Munster minor and under 21 success. They were Anthony O’Riordan (Limerick), Diarmaid Fitzgerald (Tipperary) and Shane O’Neill (Cork).
O’Riordan’s time was 1984 and ’86; Fitzgerald had his turn in 2001 and ’04, while the final link in this holy trinity was provided by O’Neill in 2004 and ’07.
Ballyea, a club for so long in the shadow of fellow parishioners Clarecastle and others in the hurling environs of Ennis, have well and truly gate-crashed that club now. They’ve made it their own.
Paul Flanagan was Munster final captain at Munster minor and Under 21 in 2010 and ’13 respectively; now Tony Kelly joins him on that pantheon thanks to his captaincy winning years in 2011 and ’14.
All under the guidance of Donal Moloney, Gerry O’Connor et al. Before the final Kelly spoke of giving something back to this management team when he said: “Donal and Gerry gave us a chance at such a young level. We’re just trying to pay them back at the highest level we can and by winning trophies,” he added.
How they’ve done that and more over the past five years at underage level, but Kelly wouldn’t let the occasion of his victory speech pass without thanking them once more.
“To captain a Clare side is a fantastic honour, but to captain a threein-a-row-winning one is something special,” he said. “I would like to pay tribute particularly to the management of Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor that put us on the road back in 2010,” he added.