Shamrocks Ballyhale cruise to Kilkenny SHC title win over Tullaroan

Shamrocks Ballyhale are St Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling Championship winners for a 22nd time after defeating Tullaroan in a most disappointing county final at UPMC Nowlan Park this afternoon.

The Shamrocks were relentless as they completely outclassed Tullaroan in a final margin that was the third highest in the history of the championship and the Ballyhale club’s biggest ever.

Nerves clearly played a part on the Tullaroan side as they failed to do themselves justice in what was their first final appearance since 1994 but there can be no doubting that the back to back senior winners were simply awesome.

In many ways the game got away from Tullaroan barely a minute after the start whe Adrian Mullen drilled a shot to the net after Eoin Cody was initially denied by Niall Holland.

The winners then kicked into another gear with a further six points on the trot with Cody, Mullen, Evan Shefflin, TJ Reid and Brian Cody all finding the range for Mark Aylward’s men.

Tullaroan’s first point eventually arrived via a Shane Walsh free in the 14th minute but with the wind at their backs, the Shamrocks showed no sign of letting up and they racked up 1-15 by the half-time whistle with the likes of Evan Shefflin and Ronan Corcoran also getting in on the act.

The Sash’s sole response was a John Walton score from play as all of 16 points seperated the sides going into the half-time break.

Tullaroan lost Padraig Walsh to injury in the opening minutes of the second half but that was the least of their worries as the Ballyhale club continued to dominate all over the field.

Richie Reid and Eoin Cody added on points before the new generation of Shamrocks players got in on the act when minor star Jake Mullen shot to the net in the 40th minute to leave the scoreboard reading 2-18 to 0-2 with Tullaroan only scoring once from play at that stage.

Things could have been even worse for the challengers with Niall Holland producing a number of top class saves to keep the Shamrocks at bay before Dylan Aylward and Michael Barron pointed further scores off the bench.

Tullaroan ended the game with Holland via a long range free, Dylan Simpson and Mossy Keoghan finding the target but the game was long gone by that stage as Shamrocks eased to a 22 point success.

Teams and Scorers

Shamrocks Ballyhale: Adrian Mullen (1-4); TJ Reid (0-4, 3fs and 1 ‘65); Eoin Cody (0-4); Jake Mullen (1-0); Evan Shefflin (0-3); Darragh Corcoran (0-2); Niall Shortall, Brian Cody, Ronan Corcoran, Richie Reid, Liam Barron, Dylan Aylward, Michael Barron (0-1 each)

Tullaroan: Dylan Simpson (0-3, 1f and 1 ‘65); Shane Walsh (0-2, 1f); Niall Holland (0-1, 1f); Martin Keoghan, John Walton (0-1 each)

Shamrocks Ballyhale: Dean Mason; Killian Ryan, Joey Holden, Liam Barron; Evan Shefflin, Darragh Corcoran, Killian Corcoran; Ronan Corcoran, Richie Reid; Brian Cody, Eoin Cody, TJ Reid; Adrian Mullen, Jake Mullen, Niall Shortall.

Subs: Brian Butler for Ryan, 43 mins; Cathal Coogan for J.Mullen, 49 mins; Dylan Aylward for R.Corcoran, 54 mins; Cian Cullen for R.Reid, 55 mins; Michael Barron for B.Cody, 55 mins.

Tullaroan; Niall Holland; Joe Coughlan, Tomas Dunne, Charlie Cleere; Tommy Walsh, Padraig Walsh, Bill Walton; Martin Walsh, Bill Gaffney; Martin Keoghan, Peter Walshe, Dylan Simpson; Shane Walsh, Gearoid Dunne, John Walton.

Subs: Ciallin Brennan for P. Walsh, 36 mins; Mark Simpson for J.Walton, 40 mins; Eamon Holland for Cleere, 53 mins; Jim Moore for Walshe, 53 mins; Tommy Walton for Coughlan, 56 mins.

Referee: Owen Beehan (Fenians)