Drive for five had irresistible hold on Holden
BRAZIL or Ballyhale? It says everything about where Joey Holden’s heart lies that when push came to shove, home and hurling won out.
And so here he finds himself, with the countdown on to an AIB All-Ireland club hurling final at Croke Park tomorrow and the level of his performance against Ballygunner is such that he fields questions about whether he would consider a return to the Kilkenny set-up, aged 32.
It’s only last summer that he was enjoying travelling around the US with his girlfriend Laura, the first leg of a tour that had Brazil and South America up next with a view to continuing on to Central America. That’s why he found himself watching the All-Ireland final between Kilkenny and Limerick in a bar in San Francisco at 8.30am, cheering on his club and county teammates.
Colin Fennelly was Stateside too, cajoling him to return for a crack at history with Ballyhale Shamrocks and eventually, Holden decided to put his travel plans on hold.
The Kilkenny AllIreland winner, AllStar and former captain admits that he had made his peace with not ever lining out in Croke Park again while away.
‘Yeah, pretty much. The whole way along I wasn’t coming back. We had plans – we were heading towards Brazil at the time, that was the route,’ he says.
‘Maybe it was something in me to just come back and play the Kilkenny championship, that was the ultimate aim. We had no aim to come to a club AllIreland. It was just Kilkenny and the five-in-a-row. Maybe there is something there, something in me.’ So what was that pull? ‘It’s hard to put my finger on. Just a great bunch of lads and a great community there in Ballyhale. To get that five in a row in the 50th year of the club, it was a chance to do something special. That just drew me back.’ And yet that championship run was tinged with a sense of loss too, his father Patrick passing away before the club’s Kilkenny quarter-final against Clara. That Holden has been such an influential figure in Ballyhale Shamrocks’ run to an All-Ireland final from that point is testament to his character, lifting the siege on so many occasions in the semi-final against holders Ballygunner and curbing an array of threats, including that of dangerman Dessie Hutchinson.
Not that it has raised second thoughts of perhaps going back in with the Cats under new manager Derek Lyng. ‘No, not really. With regards the Kilkenny set-up, they are gone to another level with fitness, strength, that sort of thing.
‘I’d be actually a good bit behind. It’s different. I performed okay on the day. You can have good games or bad games, I don’t get too carried away.’
Instead, the travel itinerary has been re-arranged so that when the final is over, Mexico city is the first stop on the agenda. ‘We’ll see how far the funds get us,’ he smiles, with the initial plans to travel for six months or so.
Victory over Ballygunner atoned for last year’s final defeat at the hands of the same opposition, even if it got lost a little bit in the sports scheduling by going headto-head with the World Cup final between France and Argentina.
Turns out, Holden and company caught the closing stages en route home.
‘There was five different stations by the time we got to the bus watching extra time and penalties. There was a bit of controversy – one lad was 10 seconds ahead and there was shouting at the top of the bus. And they were shouting at the back of the bus so we were trying to find the best one, who was the furthest ahead to see.’ He admits that Ballygunner being installed as slight favourites the last day played into their hands. ‘Maybe we got a little bit of extra motivation in that, that they were tipped to beat us. Maybe in some people’s eyes we were gone, over the hill. ‘Listen, there was loads of things we could pull on for motivation against Ballygunner. And same for them against us.’
Now the boot is on the other foot with Sunday’s opponents Dunloy the outside bet, so is this really his last hurrah then at Croke Park?
‘Yeah, I’d say so. We don’t know how long we’ll be gone for either.
‘When I come back I’m hoping to hurl away as well, at whatever level or standard. When I come back, there’ll definitely be work to be done in the club, whether it’s playing or helping out I’ll definitely be involved, we’ll just see how it goes.’