2016 defeat to Townies was Ballyea’s defining moment

Ballyea have a remarkable record at senior level since breakthrough championship year of 2016 — a run to county and provincial success and all the way to Croke Park that began with a defeat to Éire Óg in the first round of the championship as Joe Ó Muircheartaigh recalls.

It was a 50/50 game beforehand, but when it was all over the feeling around Cusack Park afterwards was that the Éire Óg hurlers had finally come up with a statement performance that could propel them onto much greater things. As for Ballyea, the jury was definitely out.

It was 2016 and the sides had drawn each other in the first round of the senior championship and even before a ball was pucked, they’d both come a long way from one of their previous games of real significance — that was when both were fighting relegation in 2008 and played in a decider in Clareabbey that Ballyea won with a late goal.

This time, both had designs on winning a championship and served up one of the best games of the year that went all the way to extra-time before the Townies pulled away to win by a hugely impressive 3-26 to 1-23.

It was the start of something, but for Ballyea instead of Éire Óg as Fergal Hegarty, who was team coach under Robbie Hogan’s management, recalls, “I’m not making excuses,” he says, “but Éire Óg were good on the day. Tony Kelly got a 65 to bring it to extra-time but in extra-time there was only one team in it.

“There was a huge break until the next game and we had Newmarket in a do-or-die game. That Éire Óg game was a watershed moment and put us under a lot of pressure.

“As it turned out it was the catalyst for something but we were fairly down after losing that game. If we lost the next game we were in a relegation battle,” he adds.

That this pressure turned out to be the making of Ballyea is told by the journey the black and amber army have had since that May day six years ago when David Reidy hit 0-15 as the Townies cruised to a nine-point win.

“We beat Newmarket on a wet evening and got on a run,” Hegarty recalls. “After that we were lucky to beat Clooney-Quin by a point and then in the next round we were seven points down in the first half against Crusheen and ended up beating them well in the end.”

And they kept winning — kept coming back. From six adrift in the county final against Clonlara to draw, before then getting home by three points in the replay.

It’s been the greatest of rags to riches stories, one that has been sustained and merciless.

From the ashes of that first round defeat they won a historic first county title, then added Munster when beating Cork blue bloods Glen Rovers, before taking down St Thomas’ in the All-Ireland semi-final and making it as far as Croke Park. Throwing the further county titles from 2018 and ’21 into the pot is the proof of just how relentless they have been.

“You couldn’t have foreseen it, but the talent was there all the time,” notes Hegarty, “and it was there for a few years before 2016. They were knocking on the door the previous year when Kilmaley beat them after extra-time in the quarter-final, while they won the Under 21 A in 2012 against Kilmaley after a replay.

“You could see they had huge ability and an Under 21 title was always a fair barometer of how they were going to do as a senior team afterwards.

“I was a little bit involved with that team, giving them some sessions when coach Mike Guilfoyle was away in America with work for a while. That win gave them the confidence that they were there or thereabouts,” he adds.

They were in the mix from 2012 because of the revolution that had been stoked in Ballyea to bring that generation through — work put in by the likes of Dónal Kelly and Fergie O’Loughlin, as well as Liam Fitzgerald, Noel Coote, Gary Logue and others.

The base camp was the old Lenmac Tournament, something Dónal Kelly recalled ahead of Ballyea’s biggest ever day when they faced Cuala in the 2017 All-Ireland Club final in Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day.

“Lenmac was huge for us,” he remembered. “We were beaten the first year, but you could see it coming. We won it the second year. The team that was beaten the first year was Paul Flanagan’s team and then they got to an Under 12A final. They were beaten by St Joseph’s in the final, but had an awful lot of the team under age again the following year.

“We beat the ‘Bridge well in the final that year and then beat them in the Féile (Under 14) after that. They beat us in the Under 16 and minor, but we came back to win the 21.”

It meant that when Ballyea played in Croke Park they had lined out in A finals at every grade from under 10 level to senior in Clare, before adding provincial and All-Ireland finals to their resumé when moving outside the county.

But what’s made that journey even more impressive is the way they have kept going, year in and year out since that big breakthrough six years ago.

“They have massive experience gained,” says Hegarty, “and a great will to win and are very coachable. They are a very grounded group and have that never-say-die attitude that has carried them through a lot of games.

“Their top men — whether they’re hurlers or footballers — will always give you eight or nine out of ten every day. The likes of Pearse Lillis, Gary Brennan, even Marty O’Leary off the bench — these guys have played inter-county football, they’ve played in big games in Croke Park and you can’t buy that,” he adds.

And it’s this experience that Hegarty thinks tips the balance in their favour.

“Eire Og are best equipped team to go with them,” he says, “because they’re very fit, have a lot of footballers and can go with them in that respect, but I think that Ballyea have more strength in depth — on the field, but also on the bench. They know how to get the job done.

“Last year coming down the stretch the big players stood up. Gary Brennan was immense.

“This is their seventh big final — a fifth county final including a replay, and Munster and All-Ireland finals. That’s huge to have. That’s why I’d be tipping them to win.”