John Horgan: Club hurling is thriving, as St Martin’s victory in Leinster showed

Outside of the clubs involved and the counties that they are representing, the provincial club championships might not generate a whole pile of interest.

That's reflected in the attendance levels, only a few thousand present for the bigger games, fewer as you come down the grades.

Neutrals, in a lot of instances, have only a passing interest and that's the way it is really; always has been.

But that should never dilute the importance of those games and at this time of the year, they really all we have outside of the conclusion of games in the lower grades of the local championships.

Last Saturday night we tuned in to the Leinster club SHC final between 12-time winners and one of the greatest club sides in history, Ballyhale-Shamrocks from Kilkenny and St Martin's from Wexford who were appearing in the final for the first time.

And are we glad that we tuned in for a game that has to rank in the top three or four of the best games at any level, club or intercounty over the past 12 months.

There were counter attractions on the other channels but for sheer drama, intensity, physicality, individual brilliance, sublime score taking and so on, this Croke Park epic had no equals.

FANTASTIC

In fact, it was one of the reasons why we love this game of hurling, a game for the ages and to quote that great commentator, Marty Morrissey, 'this is just fantastic hurling'.

There was hardly a foul stroke over the 60 minutes and yet the physicality took your breath way, bodies on the line for a prize of the utmost importance to both clubs and the counties that they were representing.

There is something about Wexford hurling down through the years that we have always admired lean and all as many of those years have been.

Cork and Wexford produced games in past eras that were captivating, no quarter asked or given, some of them maybe going over the top.

But, irrespective of the outcome, there was always respect, so tellingly illustrated in the 1956 All-Ireland final when two Wexford warriors, Nick O'Donnell and Bobby Rackard carried Christy Ring off the field.

Cork had lost the game but that gesture by the Wexford duo illustrated the regard his peers from another county had for him.

Wexford hurling hasn't had too much to celebrate in the modern era and something was badly needed to lift the ship from troubled waters.

Ballyhale were the hottest of favourites last Saturday night, St Martin's despite being finalists, were rank outsiders.

And when the Kilkenny team scored an early goal to lead by 1-4 to 0-2, the portents did not look good for St Martin's.

But what followed was one of the finest performances ever given by a club side at headquarters, a gripping encounter that went right to the wire.

It was a game of hurling that you could not take your eyes off it...

The difference between the teams after those early Ballyhale scores was wafer-thin but one might have had the feeling that the experience of the Kilkenny team would get them over the line.

But this time it was different, St Martin's dug as deep as any team could and one of the great finals in Croker was settled by one of the great scores from St Martin's sub, Ben Stafford, his name now embedded in the folklore of the club.

When Wexford won their last All-Ireland in 1996, two of their stars that day were John and George O'Connor and for those of us privileged to be present that day there is an enduring image of George O'Connor at 37 years of age on his knees at the final whistle praying to the heavens.

In the years that followed that great hurler faced many difficulties in his life, so excellently told to Denis Walsh in the Irish Times last Saturday, a wonderful piece.

Thankfully, he's in the best of health now and his son Barry and John's sons, Jack and Rory, contributed hugely to the events of last Saturday night. Between the three of them, they contributed 18 points of their 0-24 total.

Some of Jack's six from play were of the highest quality and the emotion of his after-match interview made us realise what this great game is all about.

But this was a huge team effort from the Wexford champions, TJ Reid was well curtailed in the Ballyhale attack and the Martin's defence stood firm throughout.

A club victory, one of great magnitude as this one was never guarantees anything at inter-county level, but this has to give the game in Wexford a huge boost. And for the game in general, it has to too, for all those counties striving to return to the glory days of long ago.

With four minutes remaining last Saturday night, the possession stats showed Martin's on 52% and Ballyhale on 48%, that illustrated how fine the margins were. People might ask why this column is rabbiting on about a game that was of no real interest to most here on Leeside and elsewhere as well.

Well, there is a simple answer, hurling is a special game to those of us who have loved it all our lives and when you get a game as we got in that final it deserves to be spoken about.

The emotional scenes at the end told it's own story, it was once again all about the honour and glory of the little parish and the Wexford team now fully deserves its place in the spotlight.

Of course, there won't be much time to savour it because just four days from the big day, they will be facing Ballygunner in the All-Ireland semi-final.

With Ballyhale now out of the equation, the Waterford and Munster champions will be favourites to win it out.

Their credentials are far and away the most impressive of the last four but in these dark, December days, this club championship has often proved to be a great leveller.

Imagine what this Leinster final win will have done for St Martin's, now very much in bonus country.

The other two, Slaughtneil from Ulster and Loughrea from Galway are certainly no slouches either and it would be right to suggest that this All-Ireland club championship is now wide open.

EPIC

For the club championship, it was an enthralling weekend, the Barrs' heartbreaking loss to Dingle in the Munster final was another epic in itself.

Both finals in Croke Park on Saturday and Thurles on Sunday were a mirror image of each other, two classics decided with the final act of both games.

For hurling followers, we waited until December for one of the games of the year, it was certainly worth the wait.

And just a few short days from December 25, there is the potential for that Leinster decider to be replicated when Munster's best collides with Leinster's best.

For now we'll treasure the memory of Croke Park last Saturday night.