Heartbreak for Shamrocks as St Martin's snatch victory in Leinster Final

Shamrocks Ballyhale's quest to win a 13th Leinster senior hurling crown fell in the dying moment's of this evening's final clash with St Martin's after a 63rd minute Ben Stafford strilke gave the Wexford club the spoils.

With Jack O'Connor and Rory O'Connor sharing 17 points in total between them over the course of the 60 plus minutes, St Martin's were probably deserving first time champions though the Shamrocks pushed them to the limit.

Goals in each half from Eoin Cody and Niall Shortall kept the Ballyhale outfit in the game but they never really hit top gear and while they looked like they might win it when Shortall and Richie Reid pointed late on, Martin's still found a way with a levelling Rory O'Connor free before Stafford spilt the posts within minutes of appearing from the bench.

Things looked to be going swimmingly for Henry Shefflin's side early on when an Eoin Cody goal and points from TJ Reid, Richie Reid and Brian Cody helped them open up a 1-4 to 0-2 lead.

Martin's raced back into the contest however and helped by scoring the last four points of the half with Rory O'Connor registering them all from placed balls, it was the side from the Model County that led by the minimum at the interval.

The winners then looked in a great position when they landed the opening three points of the second period but as they tend to do, Shamrocks struck for goal when they needed it the most as Niall Shortall netted past Callum Quirke in the 40th minute.

It was nip and tuck throughout the remainder of the contest and extra-time looked a distinct possibility with both teams going score for score.

A couple of huge points from Jack O'Connor and Joe Barrett kept St Martin's on the tails of the Shamrocks when the pressure was at it's highest and even though the Kilkenny outfit led going into the added on time through, they couldn't hold off the late surge that Martin's brought.

Teams and Scorers 

St Martin's- Rory O'Connor (0-11, 7fs); Jack O'Connor (0-6); Darren Codd, Michael Coleman (0-2 each); Joe Barrett, Barry O'Connor, Ben Stafford (0-1 each)

Shamrocks Ballyhale-TJ Reid (0-6, 5fs); Eoin Cody, Niall Shortall (1-2 each); Brian Cody, Richie Reid (0-2 each); Evan Shefflin, Paddy Mullen, Dara Mason (0-1 each)

St Martin's- Callum Quirke; Eoin O'Leary, Conor Firman, Joe Bartrett; Daithi Waters, Philip Dempsey, Diarmuid O'Leary; David Codd, Aaron Maddock; Barry O'Connor, Darren Codd, Jake Firman; Michael Coleman, Jack O'Connor, Rory O'Connor.

Subs- Ben Maddock for Coleman, 50 mins; Ben Stafford for Firman, 59 mins.

Shamrocks Ballyhale- Dean Mason; Killian Corcoran, Joey Holden, Dara Mason; Eoin Kenneally, Richie Reid, Darragh Corcoran; Evan Shefflin, Ronan Corcoran; Paddy Mullen, Eoin Cody, TJ Reid; Liam Barron, Brian Cody, Niall Shortall.

Subs- Dylan Aylward for Barron, 51 mins; John Fitzpatrick for R.Corcoran, 57 mins; Conor Phelan for Shefflin, 61 mins.

Referee- Chris Mooney (Dublin)