John Horgan: Kilshannig hurlers can push on again after brillinant display against Ballinora

A gloomy Sunday afternoon by the banks of the Lee as the curtain continues to come down on the Cork championship season.

And for the junior hurlers of Kilshannig, a small but vibrant club in North Cork a day of joy as they lifted the Cork County title for the first time in their history.

That title will now sit nicely alongside previous football victories and it could be said that the Cork headquarters last Sunday became a Winter wonderland for a club that three years earlier had come up short against Erin's Own on final day.

This was Redemption Sunday for a unit of players who were determined to make atonement for that 2022 defeat.

Opponents, Ballinora had already tasted victory in the Cork IAFC but completing the double was just a bridge too far.

It was a day for rural clubs to have the big stage all to themselves, the final day of a long season and trying to ensure that the long Winter nights ahead would be shortened.

A county title in any county is a huge prize, county medals don't fall off trees and they are hard earned, particularly at this grade.

There is a tricky course to negotiate in the divisional championship before you can even contemplate moving on to a higher plateau.

Both Kilshannig and Ballinora achieved their goal in North Cork and Mid Cork respectively, but on the county final day of reckoning, Kilshannig came up with all the right answers.

It wasn't a classic but in the depths of winter those types of games are few and far between.

For the most part they can be a test of endurance, a survival of the fittest and to be fair to Ballinora, they have been battling on both fronts, week after week and maybe that was factor last Sunday.

The pain of their defeat will be eased considerably in the knowledge that a county title already rests in the club and when they reflect on a long journey, they will take a huge amount of positives.

But it was all about Kilshannig on this day, they controlled the proceedings for almost the entire game and Ballinora were left chasing it.

It was one of those games when the first green flag to be raised was going to have a major impact on the most likely outcome. And when Eanna O'Hanlon delivered for the North Cork team midway through the second-half the portents appeared on the wall for Ballinora.

His contribution in the number 14 certainly caught the eye, a contender maybe for man of the match but that accolade, quite rightly, went to wing-back Kieran Twomey who split the sticks with a number of very well executed points.

Jack Twomey delivered some telling points too while defensively it was very much a case of standing firm throughout, a tight rein being kept on a Ballinora attack that previously had impacted.

As a unit, this was a fine effort from this Kilshannig team, a team that drew on the experience of losing three years earlier and hurt can be a mighty ally when the need is at its greatest.

So, another major hurling trophy has been handed out as the big games are dwindling fast.

The main focus will now be transferred to the U21 grade, down to the last four in that competition with Midleton now probably the fancy of many after their excellence in defeating Ballincollig.

Newcestown are next up in the last four and, whilst the East Cork champions will be fancied, there will be an awareness of how difficult all teams from that club are to overcome and how gritty their challenge is likely.

The story of the grade over the weekend was surely the victory of Valley Rovers over Glen Rovers, the latter one of the bigger fancies, but the men from Innishannon were fully deserving of their triumph. And as a result, they will enter their semi-final joust against Shandrum in a very positive frame of mind.

The timing of the games last Sunday worked out very well for this observer and at the conclusion of the Kilshannig-Ballinora final, it was a quick exit to make it home to view the Munster Club SHC final between Ballygunner and Clare's Éire Óg.

The champions from the Banner County had donc very well to eliminate Tipp's number one, Loughmore-Castleiney and the expectation was that they would be formidable opponents for the Waterford team.

But great expectations were not realised and, for the most part, a lopsided final was controlled by the team who carried the hurt of losing to Sarsfields in last season's final into this game at Semple Stadium.

And once more they produced the goods, running out comprehensive winners and as a result going right to the top of the pile in this Munster club championship.

PHENOMENAL

This was their sixth victory to add to their 12 Waterford titles on the trot and now they have moved one ahead of Blackrock. That is a phenomenal achievement in a very competitive environment and hurling followers everywhere can only marvel at what they have managed.

Dessie Hutchinson, not for the first time, led the way in the scoring stakes, rifling over seven points from play on a murky day in Thurles and that took some doing.

One has to stand back and just admire how year in, year out, this bunch of Ballygunner players maintain the desire to just keep on winning.

Jason Ryan came in this year as team boss replacing the hugely successful Darragh O'Sullivan and many thought that things might change. Well, they haven't. The transition has been seamless.

And why would it have been any other way, Ryan is a hugely respected manager and accomplished so much during his time as Wexford and Kildare football boss, taking Wexford all the way to an All-Ireland semi-final back in 2008.

He is massively experienced and he has added a fresh impetus into this Ballygunner squad. Let's just say, he knows the terrain very well.

Now, the Gunners will be keeping close tabs on next Sunday's Leinster club final between Ballyhale-Shamrocks and St Martin's from Wexford, the latter seeking their first title.

The Kilkenny champions will be the big fancy and if they get the job done we'll have a blockbuster of an All-Ireland semi-final just four days before Christmas.

These two have history and another instalment in the rivalry would have fascinating appeal. But the Wexford team might have an awful lot to say about that scenario.

Up North, we had a look at Slaughtneil from Derry taking the Ulster title on Saturday night against St John's from Antrim. It was another routine victory for the club that are matching Ballygunner for success in that province.

Galway's Loughrea are up next for them and what we have now is a club championship containing so much potential.

It certainly keeping the pot boiling in the days leading up to the arrival of the big man from Lapland.