Ballyhale Shamrocks manager James O’Connor hailed Leinster’s final against Clough Ballacola at Croke Park as their “most complete performance” of his two-year reign.

The Kilkenny aristocrats had made some pretty painstaking progress through Leinster in 2021, surviving a massive scare against Offaly’s St Rynagh’s in the semi-finals, but they were in a ruthless mood on Sunday, cutting the Laois champions to ribbons in a devastating hour. hurling.

Captain Colin Fennelly defeated 2-01, with Eoin Cody, Brian Cody, Eoin Reid and Adrian Mullen scoring more goals as they went wild in a 6-23-0-14 win, claiming a third straight title de Leinster and the 11th in the club’s 49-year history.

Ballyhale manager James O’Connor – a former Waterford pitcher – takes the team to the All-Ireland series on first demand. After taking over from Henry Shefflin in 2020, he guided the team to a third consecutive Kilkenny crown last year, but the virus ended all club championship ambitions beyond that. In 2022, he has the chance to mount a successful pan-Irish defense.

“To be honest it was a brilliant performance from start to finish,” O’Connor told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1.

“Eoin Cody scored the first goal, settled the team and we went there so. Croke Park is such a great place to play, the width, the length of the pitch. There is an acre of space to play with them. forwards. It really suits Shamrocks and they can open you up. In my two years this was one of the most complete performances. “

Ballyhale’s formidable strength at depth was evident as they continued to guess their opponents, long after the outcome was determined, O’Connor citing Eoin Reid’s cameo.

“Eoin Reid is a perfect example of that. He’s a guy who won everything in the game, he didn’t start today but he finished with 1-02 and scored one of the best goals he has ever seen. ‘ve seen in a club. Shining. soar in the air. “

Fennelly, no longer dividing his time between the club and the county, said it was gratifying to rethink what the club has achieved over the decades.

Founded in 1972 from a merger between Ballyhale and Knocktopher, the club are comfortably the most successful on the honor roll of Leinster and all of Ireland.

“I was watching this cup at halftime, just a fraction of a second, and you are wondering what we have to do in the second half to cross the line,” the team captain told RTÉ Sport.

“Thinking about what the club has accomplished over the years and what we’ve accomplished together. We learned a lot with the last team I played with, Henry (Shefflin), (Aidan) Cummins, Paul Shefflin.

“People say ‘you’re tired and all that’ or ‘you’ve been on the road for a long time.’ You don’t really. Joey Holden spoke Friday night about the suffering people in the ward and just to put a smiles on their faces. That’s absolutely everything for us. “