By John Harrington

Eoin Cody hopes the Ballyhale Shamrocks hurlers will give their parish an early Christmas present on Sunday by winning a third AIB Leinster Club SHC title in a row.

The competition wasn’t played last year, but the Shamrocks remain the reigning champions having won provincial honours in 2018 and 2019.

It took an injury-time equalising goal from Cody himself in Sunday’s semi-final against Offaly champions St. Rynagh’s to prevent their crown from slipping, with the Kilkenny champions then going on to win convincingly in extra-time.

And now Cody hopes he and his team-mates can finish the job and give their supporters some festive cheer by defeating Laois champions Clough-Ballcolla in Sunday’s Final.

“Last week with five minutes to go we were three points down and if you had told us then that we'd have a Leinster Final the following week we'd have bitten your hand off,” said Cody.

“Now we have an opportunity to go and have a great Christmas. Go into Christmas knowing there's an All-Ireland semi-final around the corner if we can win this match.

“Hopefully now we have a chance to give ourselves, our families, the parish and everyone in Ballyhale a great Christmas. Hopefully we can give a Christmas gift to the parish by winning this match and lifting the spirits for an unreal Christmas.”

This Ballyhale Shamrocks team has some of the most skilful forwards in the country with players like TJ Reid, Adrian Mullen, Colin Fennelly, and 2021 Young Hurler of the Year Cody to call upon.

But they also have guts to go with that class. They produced a stirring comeback in the Kilkenny SHC Final against O’Loughlin Gaels and showed their mettle once again by pulling the game out of the fire against St. Rynagh’s.

“I think it's a core value in Ballyhale,” says Cody. “There's such respect for the club and for ourselves as well as the team we're playing against. The game is never over until the final whistle blows.

“If that day ever comes that don't think there's anything left in the game for you before the final whistle has blown, then there's something wrong there.

“We found a way the last day and a few other times this year and that's down to pure character and hard-work from the players, a never-say-die attitude. It's great to be part of a team with that attitude. You always want to be part of a team that wants to win and never settles for anything less. That's the type of team we have.”

They’ll be warm favourites to win what would be an incredible 11th Leinster Championship, but Cody is expecting a stiff test from Clough-Ballacolla who have already taken out the Wexford and Dublin champions en route to Sunday’s Final.

“I was listening to a few podcasts and their players were being interviewed and they were talking about how they're on a roll,” said Cody. “They have a winning mentality, they're on a roll, the momentum is with them, and they're brilliant hurlers as well.

“They're not going to be afraid of us and we won't be afraid of them. We'll go out all guns blazing and we'd assume they will as well. The best team will win at the end of the day. It's going to be a brilliant match for the neutrals as well as both clubs because you have two good teams.

“Hopefully we can come out on top but it's not going to be easy.”

Cody was speaking at the launch of the 2022 Electric Ireland Higher Education Championships where his own IT Carlow were draw out of the hat against WIT, DCU, and Maynooth in the group phase of the Fitzgibbon Cup.

That looks like a stiff test for the beaten 2020 finalists on paper, especially with two of those games away from home, but Cody believes they’re more than capable of holding their own.

“Yeah, it's a tough enough one but we're strong ourselves,” he says. “We have hurlers from the south of Ireland. A lot of lads from Wexford, Laois, a few lads from Carlow and Kilkenny, we're not bad. We'd fancy our chances in every game and we'll give it a right rattle.”