No sooner had he collected the Tommy Moore Cup than Ballyhale Shamrocks captain Eamonn Walsh was already turning his thoughts to his side's defence of the Kilkenny SHC.

"Five Kilkenny titles in-a-row is next on the cards, but you can't look past any match in Kilkenny. We'll be back pretty soon again in the club championship, and we're looking forward to that," he said.

"We put in a fierce effort, even since winning Leinster. It's been some year, a very difficult year, but a great finish. Beating the All-Ireland champions in the final is the best way to do it."

Like his manager Michael Fennelly, Walsh ruled out suggestions of payback after Ballyhale's heavy defeat to Portumna in last year's All-Ireland semi-final.

"You couldn't say we were waiting for a rematch for 13 months because we both have difficult championships to get through in Kilkenny and Galway respectively. You're not waiting for 13 months - but in the back of your head you're looking at the progress of us and them and you can see the courses could collide at some stage," he added. Tweet

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