BEN O’CONNOR was not at the AIB provincial awards held at the RDS Showgrounds yesterday, with the Munster hurler of 2009 pulled by his club, Newtownshandrum, citing the proximity of Sunday’s collision with Ballyhale Shamrocks as the reason to lie low.
TJ Reid had no such problem, calmly walking into the Minerva suite to discuss coming events as he picked up the Leinster accolade
Reid candidly spoke about the Newtownshandrum approach and its similarity to Cork at their 2006 peak, when Kilkenny found a way to deny them a three-in-a-row, beginning in the same breath their course towards what could be a five-in-a-row next September.
The O’Connor twins, Ben and Jerry, were a massive part of that Cork style of play.
“I saw them playing against Ballygunner and Thurles Sarsfields, they play a lot of hand-passing,” began Reid. “A lot of one-twos. We have to come up with a gameplan to stop that because back in 2006 they were doing the same in the senior and Kilkenny stopped them winning the three-in-a-row.
“Kilkenny upped their work- rate and I suppose that is something we have to do. We have to stop their runners. Stop the overlap. Hopefully, our heads will be right on Sunday. Hopefully, we will do the job.”
The Kilkenny champions also have Henry Shefflin and James “Cha” Fitzpatrick in the fold, making Reid’s breakthrough an even greater feat; the 22-year-old forward has been named Kilkenny captain for 2010 and is on the cusp of nailing down a permanent role amongst Brian Cody’s forward line come the summer.
That tall order is for later in the season. Club is the priority right now, with defeat of Cork’s finest presenting another crack at the standard-bearers, Portumna, on St Patrick’s Day (presuming they beat Ulster champions Dunloy).
We must go back to the 2005 All-Ireland semi-final for a serious Kilkenny team to concede five goals and that day it was also Galway men doing the pillaging.
The 5-11 to 1-16 Portumna destruction 12 months back, led by Joe Canning but an utterly complete team display, has driven Shefflin, Fitzpatrick, the Reid brothers and other Shamrocks back to this juncture.
“We took off three or four weeks (last year). Ballyhale and all Kilkenny are not used to losing. It took a while to sink in. Like, when that whistle went we were shocked. I didn’t know what happened. It is not a thing you want to be getting used to.
“We’d like to get a crack at them. But I think Newtownshandrum are as good as Portumna. Look at their forwards, they are very fast (a perceived weakness is the speed of the Ballyhale defenders, Reid conceded). Cathal Naughton, you would be running after him all day and you wouldn’t catch him very often. Ben and Jerry, they are fantastic players too.
“After beating us last year, I suppose (Portumna) are the benchmark. They are a fantastic team, but if you overlook the semi-final you could get caught.”
The approach has significantly changed in a year. Maurice Aylward removed the Bainisteoir bib, with long-serving Kilkenny net-minder James McGarry taking over. Michael Fennelly and Brendan Mason complete the management team.
“A fresh start, you know. They are all hurlers. You all know about James McGarry. He is a fantastic man. He is very smart. Knows hurling very well.”
McGarry immediately modernised the preparation.
“We never used to go to the gym before in Ballyhale. Now we are all going. We used to never really do any running. James is after stepping up the whole thing in Ballyhale. Hopefully, we can do the job for him on Sunday.
“We had been winning without doing any hard training. We are fitter and stronger this year. That’s from James and the experience he had with Kilkenny. Most of the drills are from the Kilkenny team.”
Cody’s men beat them by four points recently in a challenge match, but that was the culmination of a winter of serious endeavour. “We didn’t really stop training. Players were going to the gym. We were playing soccer once a week. Last year we stopped training and look what happened.
“We said we were not going to take any breaks and hopefully that will stand to us.”
2009 AIB Provincial Player Award Winners: Hurling– TJ Reid (Leinster/ Ballyhale Shamrocks), Ben O'Connor (Munster/Newtownshandrum), Paddy Richmond (Ulster/Dunloy Cuchullains).
Football– Kieran Comer (Connacht/ Corofin), Paul Cahillane (Leinster/ Portlaoise), Darren Hickey (Munster/ Kilmurry Ibrickane); Conor McGourty (Ulster/St Gall's).
Today's Fitzgibbon Cup(all 2pm):
GMIT v UCC, Galway; Limerick IT v Waterford IT, Limerick; DIT v Cork IT, Na Fianna; UCD v NUI Galway, Belfield; St Pat’s TC v UUJ, Drumcondra.
Weekend Fixtures
Saturday
(7.30pm unless stated)
NFL Division One– Cork v Kerry, Páirc Uí Rinn, M Deegan (Laois), Live Setanta Ireland; Dublin v Derry, Parnell Park, P Hughes (Armagh), Live Setanta Sports 1.
NFL Division Two– Down v Meath, Páirc Esler, J McQuillan (Cavan); Tipperary v Kildare, Thurles, A Mangan (Kerry).
NFL Division Three– Fermanagh v Roscommon, Brewster Park, S McGonigle (Donegal); Cavan v Antrim, Kingspan Breffni Park, R O'Donnell (Donegal).
NFL Division Four– Limerick v Carlow, Gaelic Grounds, P O'Sullivan (Kerry).
All-Ireland Club IHC Final– St Gall's (Antrim) v St Lachtain's (Kilkenny), Croke Park, D Copps (Cork).
All-Ireland Club JHC Final– Blackrock (Limerick) v Naomh Colum Cille (Tyrone), Croke Park, 6pm, G Duffy (Antrim).
Kehoe Cup Final– Kildare v Westmeath, Newbridge, 2pm, D O'Donovan (Dublin).
Sunday
(2.30pm unless stated)
All-Ireland Club SHC Semi-finals– Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilkenny) v Newtownshandrum (Cork), Thurles, J Ryan (Tipperary), Live TG4; Portumna (Galway) v Cuchullains Dunloy (Antrim), Parnell Park, B Gavin (Offaly), TG4 deferred.
All-Ireland Club IFC Final– Cookstown Fr Rocks (Tyrone) v Spa (Kerry), Croke Park, 3.45pm, T Quigley (Dublin).
All-Ireland Club JFC Final– Castlegregory (Kerry) v Kiltimagh (Mayo), Croke Park, 2pm, S Carroll (Westmeath).
NFL Division One– Galway v Monaghan, Pearse Stadium, D Fahy (Longford); Tyrone v Mayo, Omagh, J White (Donegal), TG4 deferred.
NFL Division Two– Donegal v Laois, Ballyshannon, 2pm, Michael Duffy (Sligo); Armagh v Westmeath, Crossmaglen, M Higgins (Fermanagh).
NFL Division Three– Wexford v Offaly, Wexford Park, M Condon (Waterford); Sligo v Louth, Markievicz Park, E O'Grady (Leitrim).
NFL Division Four– Wicklow v Leitrim, Aughrim, E Kinsella (Laois); Kilkenny v Clare, Nowlan Park, D Brazil (Offaly); Waterford v London, Fraher Field, 1pm, D O'Mahoney (Tipperary).
Walsh Cup Hurling Final– Dublin v Galway, Parnell Park, 12.45pm, J Owens (Wexford).
