Shane Kingston on Ballinora's fine margins: We haven't performed on the big days
Ballinora's Shane Kingston moves away from John Carey of Dripsey last year. Picture: Jim Coughlan
Shane Kingston is the latest EPH Controls/Muskerry GAA award winner.
The Cork U20 hurling All-Ireland winning defender in 2023 played an instrumental role in Ballinora claiming the MJK Oils Muskerry JAHC this year for a record fourth time on the bounce.
It would end in disappointment again for the Mid-Cork outfit after losing at the county semi-final hurdle for a third successive year. The teams they lost to have all gone on to win the county in Erin Own’s second team, Nemo Rangers and Tracton. Fine margins indeed.
The latest award function took place at the Lee Valley Golf and Country Club in Ovens recently.
“The first step at the start of the year was to win the Mid-Cork championship which we did,” Kingston says.
“It was a very tough championship this year, I must say. Ballincollig’s second team ran us very close in the final. We prevailed after a replay.
"A lot of teams put it up to us this year. But ultimately we didn’t achieve our ultimate goal and that was to win the county. It was a bittersweet ending to the campaign.
“Maybe if you look at the season as a whole, it wasn’t a bad one, but the loss to Tracton is still fresh in the minds. It’s not the end of the season that we would have hoped for. We just didn’t perform well on the day against Tracton. I thought the backs did quite good and actually kept us in a lot of games this year. Tracton fully deserved to win the game without a shadow of a doubt.
“We are disappointed that we just didn’t turn up on the day and play to our full potential. It was the same the year before against Nemo. It’s three years in a row losing county semi-finals.”
Ballinora will be warm favourites to do an unprecedented five Mid-Cork titles on the bounce in 2025, but getting over the finishing line in the county has proven to be a bridge too far to date. It’s well known now at this stage that the Junior A grade in both codes is a minefield. It’s still one of the toughest grades to win on Leeside.
“There’s only so many times you can go at it,” he said.
"There’s plenty of other things now for lads to do, going away travelling and working abroad. We have a young team so when you get an opportunity, you have to break through or else it gets harder and harder.
“The Muskerry championship will be even tougher again next year. It’s getting harder every year to be honest. The gap is closing. People probably don’t realise how tough it is to win the County Junior A championship. You basically have to win two championships.
“We will try our best next year to win the county. That’s the main goal obviously but before that we will have to try and retain the Muskerry trophy which won’t be easy.”
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