"It was nearly like the Kilkenny teams of the past"

Ballyhale Shamrocks captain Michael Fennelly lifts the Tommy Moore Cup. ©INPHO/James Crombie.

Michael Fennelly felt Ballyhale Shamrocks were Kilkenny-like as they roared to All-Ireland Club SHC glory.

Having captained the Cats to Liam MacCarthy Cup success a decade ago and Ballyhale to the club All-Ireland two days ago, Fennelly says the Shamrocks’ third-quarter surge on St Patrick’s Day brought back a lot of memories:

“It was nearly like the Kilkenny teams of the past when I look back – the first five or ten minutes of the second half you hammer it home,” he notes in The Irish Daily Star.

“If you go back to the 2017 county semi-final against James Stephens, we were six points up at half time and went out and lost by something like nine points overall.

“Henry Shefflin mentioned that at half time – ‘be careful, be very, very careful’ – and even though we did start hard for the first ten minutes of the second half, I was still very conscious that there’s 20 minutes left to play because any Galway team loves getting goals.”