Corby says it’s the side’s ability to finish strong that won them the title

CLOUGH/Ballacolla captain Aidan Corby joined an elusive club at the weekend when he captained his club to a Laois Senior Hurling Championship title with victory over Rathdowney/Errill.

Corby couldn’t put the feeling of being a championship-winning captain into words at full-time.

“It's an unreal feeling, to be honest. It's hard to put into words. It's stuff you definitely dream of, and just to get over the line, it's unreal, it's hard to describe it,” Corby said.

Clough/Ballacolla would have been disappointed with their first-half showing as they allowed the game to be played on Rathdowney/Errill’s terms and were down by four points at the break. Corby doesn’t know the reason behind their slow start but as he says, ‘we always finish stronger’.

“I don't know what it is about us. Every time we go out in the first half, we're useless, and we always finish strong. We didn't panic one bit at half-time. We were only four points down which is nothing in a game of hurling. Everyone was calm and we knew what we had to do especially with the breeze in the second half as well so we knew we were going to find it a lot easier to get scores. We always finish stronger, to be honest.” Rathdowney/Errill’s main men Paddy Purcell, Roddy King and Eric Killeen were never really given the chance to grow into the game. Corby knew how dangerous they could be, and for his side to have any chance, they needed to keep them quiet, which they did.

“If you let those three boys hurl, you won't win any game. Especially Paddy and Roddy, and Eric under the high ball. If we were able to stop that, we felt like we had a good chance of winning. Diarmaid (Conway) is an absolute animal in there, I’d hate to be Roddy King marking him. Nullify them three, and in fairness, you have a good chance of winning.” Clough/Ballacolla’s second-half performance was immense with Rathdowney/Errill only managing to score seven points. Corby felt that the ball played into the corner-forwards allowed them to create more opportunities in the second period.

“There were good balls being played into the boys, right out in front of them. They're lethal inside (Willie) Dunphy, Stevo (Bergin) and Picky (Maher). If they have a bit of space, it's hard to contain them. They did all the damage in the second half.” Corby was full of praise for Picky Maher, whose outstanding performance of 1-13 was pivotal in their victory. Reflecting on Maher's consistency in big games, Corby didn’t hold back in his admiration.

“He's ageing like fine wine, there’s plenty of legs left in Picky. He's unreal. Mr Reliable, especially on the big day. Every final he's had, he's been absolutely class and thank God we have him.” Next up for Clough/Ballacolla is a trip to play the Dublin champions in the Leinster championship, a familiar opposition for Corby’s side.

“The last three times now we've played the Dublin champions. We got the better of them once and they beat us the last time.”