THEY HAD NEVER won a game in the Leinster senior hurling club championship until a fortnight ago, but now Clough-Ballacolla are scaling new heights and dreaming of greater prizes.
A fortnight ago, the small Laois club claimed a landmark victory in the province against Wexford’s Rapparees. That was their first success after losing their previous outings in Leinster in 2009, 2011 and 2015.
Then last night they went a step further, stunning Dublin’s Kilmacud Crokes in Portlaoise and now will feature in Croke Park next Sunday in the Leinster senior decider.
“I don’t even know what to say, it’s unbelievable,” their star forward Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher told RTÉ Sport after the game.
“I suppose all the pressure was on Kilmacud Crokes. In some ways we nearly had nothing to lose, nothing was expected of us. But amongst the player we knew what was expected, we wanted to get to a Leinster final. It’s an absolute dream come true.”
Maher, who scored 1-8 on the night, articulated the signifiance of this win for their community.
“Words can’t even describe (how) it feels, such a small club. 300 members, two small schools, five teachers between the two of them. It’s unbelievable for a small club.
“It’s huge, not just for the players, but for the community itself. It’s incredible. Every score we got, every hook, block we got, we heard the crowd behind us, it meant a lot to have them at home here. We knew this was probably a once in a lifetime chance for this club. We just had to make the most of it. We worked like dogs from the first minute to the 63rd, 64th minute. It’s just incredible what we’re after achieving to be honest.
“We’ve a Leinster final to look forward to now and get the bodies right.”
Manager Declan Laffan hailed the achievement of his Clough-Ballacolla players. The Tipperary native guided Loughmore-Castleiney to a senior county double in 2013 and has now worked wonders with the Laois champions.
“Since I came up here, they’ve given absolutely everything. I’m going to mention the Laois county final, six weeks ago, it was something like that. It’s a wonderful place to play matches. You see how the crowd gets into it. They got their just rewards tonight. I think we really dug it out and showed what we’re made of.
“We really tied up their danger men, just the pure work rate throughout. The conditions were atrocious. It took heart, it took guts, it took everything them boys have.
“We’ve showed our composure since the get-go, ever since I came down here. All you’ve to do is look back to the county final, we were seven points down on two occasions, and came back to lead. All credit to the lads, they were unbelievable tonight.
“We were big underdogs tonight. It’s huge, they hadn’t got to a Leinster final, they hadn’t won a game in Leinster until this year. We’re in a Leinster final, it is stuff of dreams. We’ll go away, get the bodies in order and be ready.”
