‘We can’t look past quarter-final’ Past quarter-final’
BALLYHEA will head back into senior hurling championship action this Sunday when they take on Carrigtwohill for a place in the semi-final of Cork’s top club hurling competition.
After a difficult start to this season’s campaign, losing heavily to Blackrock on the first day of the championship, the Avondhu side bounced back with a hard-fought one point win over Bride Rovers before seeing off a fancied Kanturk side to book their place in the last eight.
That win over the Duhallow side sees Ballyhea safely into Senior A for next season, something that most people thought was beyond the north Cork side at the start of 2019.
Ballyhea manager Ray Ronan may well be in his first year at the helm of this famous village club, but he has been involved in one shape or another for many years and has total respect for all the work that his charges have put in this year and feels they were due an upturn in fortunes.
“They are a great bunch of lads, they have been around a while and there is a great mixture there of youth and experience and in fairness to them they needed a break at some stage,” Ronan told The Corkman.
“If you look at the game against Blackrock on the opening day, for the first 15 minutes they played some excellent hurling but the breaks just didn’t come and they didn’t get the scores they needed.
“The second half just didn’t turn out very well at all but they never shied away from the work after that game and finally got the break against Bride Rovers.”
The win over Rovers came just at the right time for Ballyhea after a tough few months on and off the field.
“That really was a hard fought win in fairness to our lads – they made some hard decisions at the start of the year and did a lot of soul searching– Mike Morrissey and myself stayed with them, we were there since the start of the year and we brought in Adrian Gilligan who the lads would have known previously as Strength and Conditioning and doing some of the drills as well.
“Adrian was with them when they won the Intermediate a few years back and he is very good.”
It may be a couple of years since Ballyhea won the PIHC but some of the faces involved then still wear the famous black and white hoops.
“There is probably 65% of that squad still involved with the team but we also have had a fresh injection of players in the last two years which is really positive.
“Players that have done really well with Cork are here and the last day out we gave two more debuts and while most of the youngsters are playing now some are real players for the
future.
“There was probably a lull between 2015 and last year but now there are a few more young players coming on which adds a freshness to things and helps the more seasoned guys keep going.”
Taking on Kanturk in the previous round was a huge day for Ballyhea and, while Páairc Uí Rinn may not have been the obvious choice for a game between two north Cork rivals, Ronan wasn’t fazed by the game or the location.
“The venue was out of our control. If it was to be played in a back garden we were going to be there but thankfully we came out on the right side of it. We had gained confidence from the Bride Rovers game – our boys had not become bad players overnight and we had a good game with Doon in between so we knew going into that one that we were going in the right direction.
“We went into the game with Kanturk with a quiet confidence and knew that we would have a right good go at that game.”
Next up is Carrigtwohill and Ronan is clear that although Carrigtwohill also suffered a heavy opening day defeat, they too are worth their place in the last eight.
“Like us, Carrigtwohill are a terrific club team and their ambition is there for all to see. We are under no illusion but we are in for a very big test again this weekend. It is two teams that in most peoples’ eyes have overachieved but we are both there on merit and we will both have a go on the day – have no doubt about that.”
Securing Senior A may not be such a big deal to some clubs, however, Ronan is keen to point out the advantages to a club like Ballyhea.
“It is huge for a small parish in the current circumstances and the current climate where you have a lot of younger guys that want to see more of the world younger in life and you lose a lot of guys to college it is great to be in the top flight.
“We are competing with city – Ray Ronan
clubs and the likes of divisions such as Imokilly that have done fantastically well but it is very hard for smaller clubs to compete with them so just being there, and being in the draw with them is a magnificent achievement for Ballyhea and likewise for Carrigtwohill.
“To get to a semi-final would be huge. You put yourself in these positions to get to semi-finals and finals. The opportunity doesn’t come around too often – it hasn’t come around in Ballyhea since 1995.”
Success is about more than silverware and the club as Ballyhea as a whole is invested in what the GAA club doing.
“Days like this give a lift to all those around the club and around the parish. It’s a small parish with 850 people where hurling is everything. The first thing we got here when we were growing up was a hurley.
“The club is the epicentre of the village and when the senior team plays well it gives a lift to everyone, right down through the juvenile club as well. It is great to have the senior team hurling in September and that can only help all at the club.”
Ronan has his sights firmly set on Sunday and isn’t looking at anything past the Carrigtwohill clash.
“The possibilities are mouth-watering for a semi-final, but we can’t look at that. If we win on Sunday we can look to that on Monday, but right now we have eyes on one game and one game only.”