Shamrocks see off Thomastown in tightly-fought league decider
Shamrocks Ballyhale 0-26 Thomastown 1-22
A late flurry of scores saw Shamrocks Ballyhale battle to their first senior league title since 2016 as they outgunned South Kilkenny rivals Thomastown in UPMC Nowlan Park.
Richie Reid, TJ Reid, Eoin Cody and Niall Shortall all pointed for the county champions in the final few minutes as they overturned a three point deficit to win out by the minimum.
Thomastown were in a decent position with Luke Connellan’s goal and a nine point tally from Stephen Donnelly pushing the Ballyhale side onto the backfoot but the experience in Mark Aylward’s team proved crucial as they came out on top.
Both teams rested players ahead of the championship quarter-finals this weekend but it still turned out to be an entertaining affair with the result in the balance all the way until the final whistle.
It was all Shamrocks in the opening minutes as the Ballyhale club threatened to run riot when Eoin Cody hit the first two efforts from play and they were quickly added to by Brian Cody, Ronan Corcoran and Jake Mullen also finding the target.
Thomastown finally got on the board with a Daithi Barron effort in the ninth minute but it was only brief respite with TJ Reid scoring the next three points in succession for Shamrocks. If it hadn’t been for Brian Cody pulling a goal attempt wide, the game may have been done and dusted by the end of the first quarter.
That missed opportunity seemed to spark Thomastown into life as, after John Donnelly pointed to leave the scoreboard reading 0-8 to 0-2, Noel Doherty’s team bagged the only goal of the game with Luke Connellan forcing the sliotar beyond the reach of Dean Mason after the Shamrocks stopper had earlier denied Daithi Barron.
Shamrocks maintained their lead for a period but Thomastown ended the half in style with Ben Nevin landing two huge points from distance and with Stephen Donnelly knocking over his fourth effort of the opening period via a free, there was nothing to seperate the teams as the scoreline read 0-14 to 1-11 at the break.
The second half kicked off with TJ Reid and Luke Connellan swapping points but in very uncharacteristic fashion, TJ’s score came about after he was bearing down on goal and shot the sliotar too high, much to the relief of the Thomastown defence.
Thomastown kept plugging away as a result and when Stephen Donnelly pointed a free in the 35th minute, the ’Town led for the first time in the game. TJ got the Shamrocks back level if only briefly as three more Stephen Donnelly scores meant the 2024 senior champions maintained control going down the stretch.
It remained point for point when Donnelly and Naoise Dempsey exchanged efforts with the Shamrocks pair of Niall Shortall and Dylan Aylward but with the leading side taking off the likes of John Donnelly and Ben Nevin, they faded in the final few minutes.
No better team than the Shamrocks to pounce on any weakness and with five points on the trot between the 55th and 63rd minutes, they grinded their way to the front while Niall Shortall also had a goal attempt saved by Diarmuid Galway.
Brian Staunton replied with the last score of the game but time had run out as Shanmrocks claimed a one point success.
Teams and Scorers
Shamrocks Ballyhale: TJ Reid (0-9, 5fs); Eoin Cody (0-4); Brian Cody, Niall Shortall (0-3 each); Ronan Corcoran, Killian Corcoran (0-2 each); Richie Reid (0-1, 1f); Jake Mullen, Dylan Aylward (0-1 each)
Thomastown: Stephen Donnelly (0-9, 6fs); Luke Connellan (1-1); Ben Nevin (0-4); John Donnelly (0-3); Daithi Barron, Cian Doherty, Jack Holden, Naoise Dempsey, Brian Staunton (0-1 each);
Shamrocks Ballyhale: Dean Mason; Killian Ryan, Joey Holden, Brian Butler; Evan Shefflin, Brian Cody, Killian Corcoran; Ronan Corcoran, Richie Reid; Jake Mullen, TJ Reid, Liam Barron; Cathal Coogan, Eoin Cody, Niall Shortall.
Subs: Dylan Aylward for Mullen, h/t; Darragh Corcoran for L Barron, 41 mins; Michael Barron for Shefflin, 41 mins; John Fitzpatrick for Coogan, 55 mins; Cian Cullen for Butler; 57 mins.
Thomastown: Diarmuid Galway; Ned Kirwan, Peter Connellan, Rory Connellan; Brian Staunton, Eddie Donnelly, Zach Bay Hammond; Ben Nevin, Peter McDonald; Jack Holden, John Donnelly, Stephen Donnelly; Daithi Barron, Luke Connellan, Cian Doherty.
Subs: Jonjo Farrell for McDonald, 48 mins; Naoise Dempsey for J Donnelly, 50 mins; Conor Barcoe for Nevin, 52 mins; Thomas O’Hanrahan for Doherty, 54 mins; Oisin O’Reilly for P Connellan, 55 mins.
Referee: Richard Holland.