THE GREAT MAN himself has pinpointed his performance against Galway in the drawn 2012 All-Ireland senior hurling final as the highlight of his career.
Henry Shefflin scored 0-12 for Kilkenny against the Tribesmen in a breath-taking encounter, a haul made up of ten frees, a point from a penalty and one from play.
There was so much to admire about his individual exploits but just how good was the Ballyhale Shamrocks wizard on the day?
Here’s a blow-by-blow account of Shefflin’s contribution on that September Sunday, as the ten-time All-Ireland senior medallist had a big role to play in one of the finest games of recent years.
First half
2nd minute: Shefflin’s first possession sees him dispossessed by Galway’s Iarla Tannian.
4: Kilkenny boss Brian Cody had pitched Shefflin in on top of Galway defender Fergal Moore, in an attempt to exploit a height advantage. Shefflin’s aerial ability allows him to execute a clean catch before he’s fouled by Moore for a Kilkenny free. Shefflin converts for the opening point of the game.
6: Shefflin’s selflessness is evident as he’s seen foraging between the two 65m lines, doing the simple stuff well as neatly flicks the ball back for Paul Murphy.
7: Shefflin is off-target with a 65.
16: Shefflin goes for goal from a 20m free but it’s diverted wide by the Galway backs. Shefflin fails to convert the resultant 65.
30: Shefflin wins possession and fires in a lovely ball that allows Eoin Larkin to fire over a badly-needed Kilkenny score. They trail by 0-4 to 1-7.
33: A crucial Shefflin free from a tight angle on the Hogan Stand side of the field keeps Kilkenny in touch. They’re 0-5 to 1-8 adrift approaching half-time.
34: Richie Hogan wins a Kilkenny free and after referee Barry Kelly brings the ball forward, Shefflin does the rest. Kilkenny are now 0-6 to 1-8 behind.
35+1: In first half stoppage time, another Shefflin free brings Kilkenny a little closer. They’re now just four points behind, 0-7 to 1-8.
Half-time score: Galway 1-9 Kilkenny 0-7.
First half summary: Four pointed frees for Shefflin in the first half and an assist for Larkin’s point. He’s missed a couple of 65s, however, and was kept out from that 20m free.
Second half
36: Shefflin sets the tone for the second half, angling a lovely ball to Richie Power, who’s fouled for a Kilkenny free. Shefflin puts the ball over the bar and Kilkenny trail by 0-8 to 1-9.
46: Power wins another Kilkenny free and Shefflin obliges from the placed ball. The Cats still have work to do, however, as they’re 0-11 to 1-0 adrift.
46: Shefflin’s desire is evident as he goes in hard on Fergal Moore. The Galway man falls to the deck and Shefflin indicates to referee Kelly that he feels it was a dive.
51: Shefflin wins a brilliant ball over the head of Kevin Hynes and drills over a Kilkenny equaliser for his seventh point – 0-13 to 1-10.
54: Shefflin points a monster free from inside his own half to nudge Kilkenny in front, 0-14 to 1-10.
57: Kilkenny have been rocked by a second Galway goal, scored by Niall Burke, but Shefflin’s free hauls Kilkenny back to within a point – 0-15 to 2-10.
59: A moment of Shefflin brilliance almost leads to a Kilkenny goal. Monitoring a high ball, Shefflin flicks it down to himself before transferring to Colin Fennelly. The corner forward’s powerful shot is brilliantly saved by James Skehill, who is penalised for lying on the sliotar. Shefflin opts for the point from the 20m free and the sides are level again – 0-16 to 2-10.
64: With the game in the balance, Shefflin produces a magnificent catch from David Herity’s puckout but Galway turn him over and win a free seconds later.
66: Another huge Shefflin free, again from inside his own half, levels matters again – 0-18 to 2-12.
67: Kilkenny are awarded a penalty after Skehill takes down Eoin Larkin inside the Galway parallelogram. All eyes are on Shefflin as he steps up to take it but he opts for a point to edge Kilkenny 0-19 to 2-12 in front.
70+1: Shefflin has the chance to put Kilkenny two points clear but drags a long-range effort wide.
70+2: Another chance for Shefflin as he collects another Herity puckout but his attempted point falls short and Skehill clears.
Full-time: Galway 2-13 Kilkenny 0-19
Second half summary: Shefflin was much more involved in the second half, banging over key scores and working desperately hard for the cause. After contributing four points before half-time, he adds eight more in the second half. There were a couple of missed chances while Shefflin opted for the safe point option with that late penalty.
Tell that to limerick, on the cusp of the double
@Ave it: There’s always an exception or two but the normality is complete non-events and a predictable outcome until the later stages of the championship.
@Rochelle: it wouldn’t be like that if we have tiers and open draw and dispensed with the provincial championship or ran provincial at a different time of year
@Ave it: Limerick beat a division 3 team hardly that much of an upset?
Imagine trying to get a ticket with six teams playing on the same day
@Eugene O’ Sullivan: exactly. Terrible idea. Double header of tier 2 and 3 on the Saturday evening and Tier 1 / minor final as tradition on its own the Sunday.
- Abolish Provincial Championships
- Champions League format with seeded draws
- 8 groups of 4
- Teams that finish first and Second play for Sam
- Third team and fourth team play in Bed and C Championships respectively
- All players still get the opportunity to pull off shocks and play for Sam.
- all players have something to play for
- Plus think of how the fixtures being so structured would also allow the club game to flourish.
Think I’ll run for the County council now too
@Séamus Tierney: Probably one of the best ideas, because one of the main complaints along with lack of coverage is that a ‘B’ championship would take away a players chance for a upset or a big day out in Croke Park against a top team. At least with this they get both that and chance of winning some silverware.
@Séamus Tierney: that’s a good idea and Zi used to be for it, but it wouldn’t work because you can pretty much pick which 16 teams will qualify with 1 or 2 surprises. 2/3 of the marches would be drubbings that will attract no public interest and the 1 decent game really a dead rubber as both teams guaranteed 2 wins from the other matches.
@Séamus Tierney: that’s a good idea and I used to be for it, but it wouldn’t work because you can pretty much pick which 16 teams will qualify with 1 or 2 surprises. 2/3 of the matches would be drubbings/hammerings that will attract no public interest and the 1 decent game really a dead rubber as both teams guaranteed 2 wins from the other matches.
@Séamus Tierney: still the same amount of hammerings in champions league format
All they need to do is reduce the size of the ball to little more than tennis ball size and let them bring sticks onto the pitch to hit the reduced size ball, problem solved.
@Dino: nice idea but I could see this becoming a niche product, played by an elite few counties and generally ignored by everyone else.
@Etherman: As opposed to the big ball game we have ATM played by one ‘elite’ county and where everyone yearns after the competitiveness of the niche product??
The league is a far better competition. Can we not just swap them around and play the championship in the spring?
@Brian Dunne: what???
@Brian Dunne: the league is very competitive, but it’s not the competition teams really want to win. The Kerry manager said all throughout the league that they weren’t interested in winning it. He got his wish in the end.
@Stephen Walsh: yea but if it was the championship they would
Works for the ladies also as TG4 cover all grades. RTE who pay Brolly are part of the problem zero coverage of lower profile games .
Intercounty League starts 1st Jan. Champions league format starting in April. Finished by end of June All Ireland final. Players back to the clubs by mid July. Then county finals played worse case end of Sept. Solved both Hurling and football in 261 characters.
There is no perfect format. A champions league type group system or an NFL type fixture competition would work best in my opinion. Teams can come against opposition of all levels and benefit from each. Eliminated teams can go into a second tier competition. Every team would play at least 4 games at a minimum. Season tickets & game planning could also be organised well in advance.