‘They know that we’re green and white, it’s Ballyfin’ McGill

BALLYFIN have returned to the top tier of Laois club hurling, and joint-manager Dermot McGill described Saturday evening’s Premier Intermediate Championship final win over Rathdowney/Errill as the reward for months of dedication and hard graft.

“This is the culmination of eight, nine months working with the boys. It sounds like a short period of time, but obviously, you put nine months of your life on hold, really and truly. It's just magic that the boys could perform on the day when they needed it the most,” he said.

Ballyfin had lost to Rathdowney/Errill during the group stages, though a late scoring burst that day helped them finish top of the table. McGill admitted that result may have proved a blessing in disguise.

“We didn't perform that day. We've made a couple of positional tweaks since. It was probably always going to work in our favour because we just couldn’t be as placid again. Disappointed in the way it transpired to actually top the group. We were steeped really,” he said.

This year’s final was delayed by two weeks due to the controversy surrounding Rathdowney/Errill’s quarter-final replay with Colt-Shanahoe. While the wait could have been disruptive, McGill explained that Ballyfin used the extra time wisely and that it was nothing compared to the scheduling delay they’d faced in 2023.

“It probably wasn't as awkward as two years ago. Remember 2023? I suppose it gave us a chance to breathe. We got a practice match in, and we changed a few things around. All the time the boys were dovetailing with football as well, so you have them and you don't have them.

“We tried to make a bit of hay when we got them. We fired them up for Camross and they responded in spades that day. The weather wasn't wonderful, but, like, this time of the year, championship hurling, the knock-out stages. The weather is going to be hit and miss. You never know what you're going to get,” he said.

Strong winds played a major role in Saturday’s decider, and McGill revealed that he and captain James Finn had debated beforehand whether to play with or against the elements. In the end, Finn’s call to start against the wind proved decisive.

“I'd say we lost the toss, but I don't actually know. I haven’t asked Finn yet. To be fair, we were on the phone around one o'clock, wondering what we were going to do with the wind, what would we do? And I said we'll go with it if we win it, and he was kind of the other way. In fairness to him, he made the point that we hadn't hurled in four weeks. We didn't want to start putting ourselves under pressure with a massive wind either.

“Our shooting in the second half was probably disappointing; we'll look back at it, but we probably weren't as efficient as we'd like to be in front of the goal. We just didn't want to have that in the first half when we hadn't hurled in four weeks,” McGill said.

That decision paid off handsomely as Ballyfin hit three goals into the wind in the first half, establishing a commanding seven-point advantage by half-time.

“Goals give you energy, it's as simple as that, and two of them, Rathdowney will look back at them and they probably won’t have been happy with them. The goal we conceded, sure, listen, it was a genuine mistake by Eoin. We weren't happy with it, and Eoin wasn't happy with it, but they do give you energy. Especially going in after hurling against a strong wind, and we're seven points up. They gave us a massive foothold,” he said.

Having played for Ballyfin himself, McGill admitted that managing the team to a county title felt different, but just as rewarding.

“As John Joe alluded to, that’s just coaching. I was looking around the other night, while someone was giving a speech and no more than himself, we’ve all hurled with them lads. We played Junior ‘B’ this year and were beaten in a final. We’ve even played with the younger lads. We’re really attached to them, and they know we’re genuine. We might not get everything right, but they know that we’re green and white, it’s Ballyfin. They responded today, and we’re just delighted that they’ll get a chance to go and challenge themselves at senior hurling. That’ll be a huge challenge, but it’s something that we’ll strive to do,” McGill said.

Ballyfin now turn their attention to the AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship, where they’ll face Offaly’s Lusmagh, a side they’ve already played in a challenge match this year.

“We’re hurling Lusmagh on the weekend of the 8/9 of November. We were always in Leinster because it was Rathdowney/Errill’s second team. We hurled Lusmagh in a practice match earlier in the year, down below. It’s mad the way it works. They're a formidable team, they're a strong unit. We'll go down there, but we'll give it a good crack.

“These competitions don't come round too often. The pressure valve comes off once you get out of Laois. The boys will have a free hit at it now, and they'll go and enjoy themselves, and see where that takes us,” McGill ended.