Leinster Club HC final: O'Loughlin Gaels 0-15 Birr 0-9 There was an end-of-era feeling around O'Moore Park yesterday as the curtain came down on Birr's hopes of winning an All-Ireland three-in-a-row. Unable to stay with O'Loughlin Gaels when the Kilkenny champions raised the tempo in the second half, the champions faded out of this year's AIB Leinster hurling final before 6,682 supporters in Portlaoise.
Injuries and fatigue played a role but not a crucial one. Birr had the better of the first half but led by only three points, 0-7 to 0-4. O'Loughlin Gaels had had sufficient chances to hit eight wides but they assessed the situation at the break, made the switches and upped their game to win their first provincial title within 10 years of having been a junior side.
"We'll have a few tonight," said Kilkenny forward Martin Comerford, referring to his abstention at Friday night's All Stars banquet.
"We were poor in the first half but Birr had thrown the kitchen sink at us and were still only three points up. We got a rollicking at half-time.
"Jimmy Comerford moved back on Rory Hanniffy, who'd caused us a lot of trouble in the first half, and did very well."
"I wouldn't put in the newspaper what I said at half-time," said team mentor Michael Nolan. "We wouldn't win the way we were going. But we took the game to them and defended well. I think we only gave away one free in the second half."
Birr welcomed Johnny Pilkington back from France, where work had taken him for the past couple of weeks.
Despite looking like he'd had a baguette in his hands more often than a hurley during that time, his first-half movement was nimble enough to fetch him two points. But overall Brian Hogan asserted himself well at full back.
Although Rory Hanniffy painstaking built a three-point lead for the champions during the first quarter with his free-taking, it wasn't one-way traffic and a couple of aerial raids on the Birr goal caused alarm. Goalkeeper Brian Mullins, with the sun in his eyes, dealt capably with one and the defence scrambled the earlier one away.
Birr were making all their impact through the middle. Brian Whelahan stifled Martin Comerford. Rory Hanniffy was the dominant influence at centrefield and his brother Gary was initially having the better of Andy Comerford in keeping the ball moving. But O'Loughlin Gaels were satisfied they hadn't yet got moving and were ready to respond.
"We kept the pressure on with good, quick hurling," said Aidan Fogarty, the Offaly All-Ireland winner and now an O'Loughlins selector. "In a tight game I knew we wouldn't be caught. Birr have been around for a long time and have been great champions but in Kilkenny we'd had a lot of hard games that had gone to the wire."
Once the Kilkenny champions went up the gears on the restart Birr couldn't keep pace. Such was the winners' momentum that they rained over eight unanswered points and won the second half 0-11 to 0-2.
Free-taker Nigel Skehan lived up to his high reputation with 0-8 from frees and one 65 - more than half his team's total - and Birr had no margin for error.
The switch of Jimmy Comerford to centrefield reversed Rory Hanniffy's hold and together with Alan Geoghegan, O'Loughlins took over the sector. Behind them Andy Comerford had a towering second half and Birr's half forwards couldn't make progress and their lack of mobility in the full-forward line wasn't remedied by a succession of changes.
When Birr eventually woke up and took the game to their opponents they couldn't penetrate, whereas O'Loughlin Gaels were capable of picking off scores to keep their lead healthy.
Unhappy about a couple of scores allowed to O'Loughlin Gaels and downbeat about the many players missing through injury, Birr manager Pad Joe Whelahan was nonetheless stoic about the defeat.
"We'd brought in a few intermediate players and I was worried about how they would handle the big stage. It worked against Castletown but they're not a good team this year.
"They (O'Loughlins) were the stronger team but we had fierce losses. Barry (Whelahan, his son) was in hospital and although he came on he wasn't able for it. But this is a great team, a fabulous team that have done great things for Leinster hurling." He was complimentary about his team's successors as champions. "On their second-half performance they should win an All-Ireland."
O'LOUGHLIN GAELS: K Cleere; B Kelly, B Hogan, B Murphy; A O'Brien, A Comerford (capt.), S Dowling; S Cummins, A Geoghegan (0-1); J Comerford, M Comerford (0-1), N Skehan (0-8, seven frees, one 65); M Nolan (0-1), C Furlong (0-1), B Dowling (0-2). Subs: N Bergin (0-1) for Cummins (12 mins).
BIRR: B Mullins; G Cahill, J Errity, JP O'Meara; N Claffey (capt.), Brian Whelahan (0-1, a free), D Franks; S Browne, R Hanniffy (0-5, four frees); P O'Meara, G Hanniffy, D Hayden; M Dwane, J Pilkington (0-2), D Pilkington. Subs: Barry Whelahan for Dwane (28 mins), P Carroll (0-1) for Barry Whelahan (48 mins).
Referee: J Kelly (Wexford).
