By John Harrington

Over time, Henry Shefflin grew very familiar with the sensation of winning an All-Ireland title as a player in Croke Park.

He did it on ten occasions with the Kilkenny senior hurlers and three times with his club Ballyhale Shamrocks.

Today he won his first as a manager as his Ballyhale Shamrocks side proved too strong for St. Thomas’ of Galway in the AIB All-Ireland Club Hurling Final.

Even if it felt a little different to direct from the remove of a sideline rather than be in the thick of the action himself, it was a very special sensation nonetheless.

“It feels strange to be honest,” said Shefflin after the match. “Little did I think when I took on this job that I was going to end up here.

“It's just been an amazing journey, there's been some amazing days, there's been some very sad days, burying Eoin Doyle, the passing of Eoin Doyle, one of our panel members.

“It's like life, sport is full of ups and downs but I must say that from the get go the lads have applied themselves very well.

“I'm delighted, it was always a hope of ours that they'd come up here and compete in Croke Park and I'm delighted they did, especially in the second-half, I think they showcased all their skills.”

Shefflin referred to Eoin Doyle more than once when speaking to the media after the match, and it was clear the death of the former Ballyhale hurler last year has left an indelible impression on his former team-mates.

And when he cast has mind back on the season as a whole, Shefflin couldn’t help but think Doyle’s hand was guiding them occasionally.

“I think Eoin Doyle was watching down over us,” said Shefflin.

“The luck we had in the Kilkenny county semi-final last year too, we were two points down with a minute to go. Everything has gone our way this year, it's just been one of those years.

“We lost two other young chaps; Sean Malone and Martin Duggan (in 2011) as well, fellas that would be very friendly with Conor Walsh and Richie Reid.

“That's real life. Today is about sport, about enjoyment, about expressing ourselves. That's what I said to the lads, 'Whatever you do, enjoy it'.

“If you're enjoying your hurling I think you hurl with more freedom. I think you saw that with Colin's movement, his striking.

“That's what you want, that's what we asked them for, 'Go out and be yourselves'. We just asked them to perform as best they can and I think they did that.”

No-one performed better than Ballyhale’s Colin Fennelly who scored 2-4 from play for the Kilkenny club. His second-goal was as good as any to grace Croke Park as he somehow twisted his body and hurley to flick a long delivery from Adrian Mullen to the back of the net.

“It was a brilliant goal,” said Shefflin. “That's his confidence, just never took his eye off the ball.

“I think once you get the ball into him he's very, very dangerous. That gave us a great grounding, great confidence. We went in at half-time and hadn't performed brilliantly but were still five points up.”

Despite that buffer at half-time, Shefflin made a point of cracking the whip in the Ballyhale dressing-room.

His last match as a senior player with the club was the 2017 County SHC semi-final against James Stephens when they were blown out of the water in the second half after leading comfortably at half-time, and warned his players not to let the same fate befall them again.

“Well, you know, we spoke at half-time here today, we were five points up, and it was just something I thought of in the lead up to the match,” said Shefflin.

“18 months ago when I was in that dressing-room, we were six points ahead in the county semi-final and we ended up losing the second-half by 16 points.

“Anyone walking out of Nowlan Park that day would have said, 'Jesus, I don't know about these lads'.

“So it's been an amazing turn around. But wasn't it great to use that today at half-time, to say, 'Lads, that's where you were and look where ye are now'. And they really drove on in the second-half.”

Ballyhale are now the most successful club in the history of the game by some considerable margin.

They have won seven All-Ireland titles with their nearest challengers in the roll of honour, Portumna and Birr, on four titles each.

Many of the current team are young, up and coming players and yet they hurled in Croke Park today as if to the manor born. Right there is the power of tradition.

“Yeah, well, I think they just believe,” said Shefflin. “That belief is there that if they get an opportunity they want to take it. But, at the same time, they're great players.

“No different to the Thomas' lads, they applied themselves very well. But when you have Michael (Fennelly) and you have Colin (Fennelly) and Joey (Holden) and TJ (Reid) and they're working harder than probably anyone else, then what are you going to do only follow them.

“That's the template you have to follow and that's probably the secret to it.

“You know, it's just about putting in that work and the hours and hours of practice. You imagine all the kids in Ballyhale today, what do they want to do tomorrow morning?

“They want to go hurl.”