By Michael Devlin

“Madness, really.”

That’s Shane Clayton’s summary of the dramatic closing stages of Ballyboden’s Leinster Club final win last month.

Played out in a deluge of rainfall in Portlaoise, the Dubliners trialled by a point with the game inching towards the hour mark.

Carlow champions Eire Og had courageously battled into edge themselves in front by the 56th minute, but St Enda’s managed to unearth several moments of brilliance among the torrential downpour to capture an gritty 0-8 to 0-6 win.

“When they took the lead with five minutes to go, I was like, “Ah Jesus this isn’t our day, in these conditions, it’s going to be a tough one to deal with’,” recalls defender Clayton.

“The chances we were missing, it wasn’t like our usual selves and we were doing things we weren’t normally doing. Things didn’t look too good. Then Warren [Egan] picks up a point out of nowhere, a little jink inside and over the bar. We were like, ‘Jesus, this is it’.

“As soon as that went over, I knew we had enough in the bag, maybe not in normal time but definitely in extra-time. Then Ryan [Basquel] comes up with another spinner with his left and saves the day, and as soon as that went over, it more so relief than anything else.

“I don’t think anyone knew how bad the conditions were on the pitch. It was probably the worse conditions I’ve ever played in. 40kph wind, freezing cold, rain, heavy pitch, there’s a lot of games played in Portlaoise in the weeks previous that wouldn’t have helped it too much.

“Both sides wanted to play football on the day and it wasn’t that kind of spectacle, so to dig it out like we did was brilliant.”

That knack of persevering and prevailing in difficult positions has been a trait of this Ballyboden team in recent years, according to Clayton.

They looked to be on the verge of defeat in this year’s Dublin semi-final against Na Fianna before grabbing 1-1 in the dying moments to propel them into extra time, where they then turned a one-point deficit into a six-point victory.

“I don’t even know how we practice that, I don’t know where the belief comes from,” says Clayton. “In the last couple of years, we feel like when it gets down to five or ten minutes to go and we’re within a goal, we feel like we have enough that we can push through.

“We’ve done that in the Dublin championship, we did it against Newtown and the last day against Eire Og. I don’t know if it’s something you can teach, but I know we’ve been able to dig it out and I know that’s down to the management and players for having that belief and never-say-die attitude.”

Given the dominance of the Dublin footballers at the moment, Clayton is well aware of any hype that may surround the county’s club champions in an All-Ireland series. Especially a club like Ballyboden, one of the giants of the Dublin club scene and Andy Merrigan Cup winners as recently as 2016.

“We know that’s kind of the outside noise, we are aware of that, but it doesn’t add any extra pressure on us. Our main goal at the start of the year was to win the Dublin Championship and we’ve never looked past that because of how tough Dublin is to win.

“As soon as we won that, that was the monkey off our back, there was no pressure going into the rest of the games. We are able to enjoy this one a little more. A couple of years ago after we won it, it was so new to us, we didn’t know what to expect. This time, we were able to relax more and actually enjoy these couple of games.

“I think we’ve done that and you can kind of see through the play that it’s been more expansive. We feel like we have a better togetherness and better culture in the team, and that’s helped us.

“This is only the second time our footballers have won Leinster. I know even the hurlers haven’t done it. It’s brand new for the club. We are a young club at the end of the day, it’s only 50 years, so it’s all very special.

“I know people outside Ballyboden see the big numbers involved but there is still that centre and community spirit within the team and the club. It’s always the main people that are involved, and same faces you see all the time, so it’s definitely like a family affair, even though it might not look it from the outside.”

Ballyboden’s All-Ireland semi-final opponents on Sunday, Down and Ulster champions Kilcoo, are very much a club that rank highly on community spirit. Despite their comparatively small stature to the behemoth St Enda’s, Clayton is expecting the Mickey Moran’s men to provide a stern test on Saturday at Kingspan Breffni.

“They're very good, very defensive with a great counter-attacking gameplan and a lot of athletic players across the middle. A few of the footballers up front are lovely, lovely footballers.

“I’ve seen a few of their games on TV so you're obviously watching it as a fan when they're on and you can just see they're not your typical northern footballers, they are great to watch, kicking lovely scores and hand passing and kick passing is lovely to watch.

“Obviously, it is their first Ulster title but when they've been on their runs over the last couple of years, they haven't come up against any slouches against the likes of Crossmaglen and Slaughtneil. We know how good they are.”