Robbie Hogan nearly stepped away from the Ballyea senior job at the end of 2015 after serving three years at the helm but somehow destiny pulled him back for one more year but as the saying goes ‘character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries’.
By Jamesy Mc Conigley
Since 2013, Ballyea have only seen four change’s of personnel from this year’s side and Hogan states that hard work is their recipe. “I don’t think there is any real secret in any club, it’s just hard work and make the best of the players you have.”
Hogan may have questioned would they ever gain the luck needed to win the Canon Hamilton trophy, having lost their first outing this year to Éire Óg, “We were unlucky last year against Kilmaley, losing in extra time and it was the last puck of the ball that cost us a semi-final spot”
2016 has seen Ballyea use 22 players in Clare SHC with 9 of these playing every minute in this campaign. Robbie hopes to emulate his success 25 years ago when Ballyea, then Junior, defeated Ennistymon in Cusack Park on a scoreline of 3-06 to 1-07, he lined out at midfield that day.
Clonlara stand in their way of lifting the Canon Hamilton and he’s looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead, “Overall, they’re a real quality side, they’ve plenty of talented hurlers throughout, majority of their guys have played county but we know what we’re up against and we’ve a few county players ourselves, so we’ll back ourselves and do our best.”
Joined in the dug-out with Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Raymond O’Connor and Alan Duggan, Hogan is upbeat to replace David Forde with an All-Ireland winner, Fergal Hegarty, “Fergal has brought a no nonsense approach to hurling here, nothing fancy, he concentrates on the skills, he believes in hard-work and effort.”
Having equalled the successful run of the 2003 team, Robbie is pragmatic with his intentions but has also branded succeeding in Sunday’s final as a ‘dream come through’. “The parish has been brought together through tragedy and sadness, this is a time that hopefully we’ll be brought together with smiles on our faces, win or lose it will be a great day for the parish, it would mean a huge amount for everyone involved”.
A tiler by trade, he hopes his side can pave the way for silverware come Sunday night.