Distraught Ballinahinch at coming up short

By Liam Hogan

There were contrasting emotions after the County Junior ‘A’ Hurling final in Kilcommon on Saturday.

Ballinahinch selector Donnacha McGrath said his team were disappointed with the manner of the defeat after a year of preparation while in the winners podium their manager Declan Ryan said his players were of a good standard and the training with the club seniors was a benefit.

“We are distraught really,” Donnacha McGrath began.

“Being beaten by ten points doesn’t really justify the effort put in all year. It just got away from us at the end.

“We didn’t get ahead at all, but we had a few chances, a few frees and then Shane (McGrath) went off injured. There was one point between us at the time and we found it hard to pull it off after that. Unfortunately, Clonoulty had the better hurlers on the day and that’s it.”

The Ballinahinch selector agreed that they had a good year with the North final win over Roscrea and the very good performances in the knockout stages of the county championship.

“We put up a great run but didn’t do it today,” McGrath added.

“Look, the boys put in a great effort, and it would have been great to turn it around after one year, but we didn’t do it on the day. Their experience on the day paid dividends.”

Ten yards away, former Clonoulty/Rossmore and Tipperary great Declan Ryan stood proudly along the sideline alongside the winning captain Patrick Ryan and Nathan Slattery who was man of the match.

Ryan agreed that the club is doing well what with three adult teams on the run and the win was what the players deserve.

“These lads have been training well all year and train with our senior squad all year,” he said.

“They have been finishing games well and have a certain level of fitness and it showed again today. These players are potential senior hurlers. We are lucky to have three senior teams in the club. We started out the year to win both West titles and to come to Kilcommon today.”