Kelly to provide the pre-final experience
By Shane Brophy
Borris-Ileigh might lack for All Ireland Club final experience on the field compared to Ballyhale Shamrocks, they won't lack for it off the field in manager Johnny Kelly.
Kelly has been down this road before with his native Portumna both as a player and a manager. He was togged out in 2006 when they won their first All Ireland title, defeating Newtownshandrum of Cork, before moving into the management team where he was a selector in the 2008 success against Birr before managing the team to regain the title in 2009 against De La Salle of Waterford.
“They were amazing times and it brings back great memories and I'd be hopeful that we'd be able to replicate that here in Borris-Ileigh,” he said.
Borris-Ileigh won't have that ability to know what playing in Croke Park is like compared to Ballyhale who are going for their fourth All Ireland Club title in ten years but he hopes to tap into the fact that Ballyhale Shamrocks going for the back-to-back as Portumna were in 2010 when they were going for an historic three in a row when they were stopped by Ballyhale.
“That was our third year on the road and we had a feeling that the pressure got to us to deliver the three in a row,” he said.
“It is quite pressurised to do do two-in-a-row or three-in-a-row. Portumna delivered the second one and then we're really pushing on for the third one.
“Ballyhale are now in that position where they want to put back-to-back titles. They are the best team in the country by a mile and have been for the last three years.
“They are the current All Ireland champions and the fact they are going for two-in-a-row is a sign of an exceptional team that we all know that they have. But that probably brings its own pressure that they trying to get that two-in-a-row and obviously, we stand in the way.
“We are rightly seen as underdogs but we don't see ourselves as underdogs here, we see ourselves as a very confident bunch. Yes, we're happy to take on the underdogs hag but we never see ourselves in that vein and we won't see yourself that way on the 19th either.”
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