‘It was a privilege to work with these lads’- Shamrocks manager Pat Hoban

Pat Hoban followed in the footsteps of Henry Shefflin and James O’Connor in helping the Shamrocks to county championship glory.

All three managers led the club to Kilkenny championship success during this 5 in a row run and for Hoban it’s just reward in his maiden season with the club.

Despite the victory, the Mullinavat native admits that he was a little worried when Paddy Mullen was sent off at the start of the second half.

“To be honest when we had Patrick Mullen sent off, the wind was beginning to pick up so you’d have been a little worried but we managed the game well.

“We were still only two or three points up for a lot of the second half so we never really got away from James Stephens but the way the players reacted to a bit of adversary was brilliant”.

The victorious boss singled out a number of individual displays on a day where they joined Tullaroan at the top of the county’s roll of honour.

Hoban added- “A lot of people thought TJ Reid had a quiet season up until now and I genuinely felt felt that there was one big game in him and thankfully he did it today.

“The half back line and midfield really came into their own too with the likes of Adrian Mullen, Richie Reid, Darragh Corcoran and Evan Shefflin all putting in awesome performances”.

Niall Shortall and Killian Corcoran have been two of the new players into the Shamrocks side this year and despite not starting the final, they both played a huge part off the bench.

“Niall Shortall has started every game for us all year and we had a big call to make in not starting him so I was delighted for the young man to go in there and make that difference.

“The same goes for Killian Corcoran who had also played every minute up until the final and again we had tough calls to make but I was delighted to see both of them get on the field”.

Next up is a clash with the Westmeath champions in a couple of weeks as the Shamrocks begin the defence of their leinster title but that was far from any minds at the end of Sunday’s game.

“The Leinster Championship hasn’t even been mentioned as the goal was the county final and we knew all the history that was attached to winning this one”, Hoban said.

“We haven’t even looked at Leinster and it’s still a few weeks away so we’ll sit down in the next while and make a plan for that”.

For some people it may have been something of a poisoned chalice to try and take over a team that had missed out on three All-Ireland titles on the spin when suffering a last gasp defeat to Ballygunner last February but Hoban saw it as a big opportunity to manage some of the best players in the country and he’s really made the role his own with James Meagher and Niall Lacey also playing a huge part in the Shamrocks success story this term.

“It was a huge ask to come in and try and win a county championship with the Shamrocks but it was also such an honour and when the opportunity came you knew you had to grab it as you were working with some of the best players in the country.

“Whatever the outcome was, it was always going to be a privilege and an honour to work with the lads and I’m delighted for all of them”.

After a few days celebrations, the Shamrocks will look back on what ahs been a hugely successful period of success and it may not be over yet.