He hasn’t lost it.
Imagine how the St Mary’s Clonmel Junior B defender felt, when after the half-time interval in the South Tipperary hurling final, one of the county’s greatest ever hurlers, and one of the greatest to have ever played the game, in 35-year-old Eoin Kelly, came on to mark him.
St Mary’s went into the break with a one point deficit, but with a strong wind at their backs in the second half, they might have fancied themselves to go on and seize the initiative in the decider.
Opponents Mullinahone had an ace up their sleeve, however, in Kelly, and it was an ace the Clonmel side were unable to cope with, as he went on to score five crucial points, with four of these coming from placed balls, from which he was always so deadly throughout his career.
Mullinahone eventually went onto win the game by a point, on a scoreline of 0-19 to 2-12, and Kelly’s five white flags, along with his ability to gain possession, and the visible lift his mere presence seemed to give his teammates proved critical.
Many feared that Kelly’s days in the green and red of Mullinahone were over last year, when he limped out of the county senior quarter final against rivals Clonoulty Rossmore with a Cruciate Ligament injurty, but the man with two of the silkiest wrists in hurling wasn’t kept down for too long.
He reportedly caught balls, involved his teammates, and looked fit and free as his side now march on to the county stages of the competition.
Indeed, Kelly wasn’t the only Premier County legend reeling back the years over the weekend, with Brendan Cummins firing his club Ballybacon Grange to their first ever adult title in Tipperary, with three defining second half frees.
The perennial Poc Fada champion was as solid and assured as you would expect in the goals for the South Tipperary club, and his pride when speaking to Tipp FM after the game couldn’t have been any more pronounced.
Congrats @BallybaconG 1st big hurling win in Junior A Co final! 2nd half pts by Daniel O Regan & @BrenCummins1 frees see them over the line pic.twitter.com/8TfX30LP4d
— Stephen Gleeson (@StephenGleeson_) November 4, 2017
That’s what it means to do it with your club.
Great to chat with @BrenCummins1 after @BallybaconG won the Junior Hurling co final. Great celebrations after game in Boherlahan #champions https://t.co/N9WViRKuen
— Stephen Gleeson (@StephenGleeson_) November 5, 2017
You can’t keep the old dogs down.
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