Ballyhale Shamrocks and Loughrea do battle on St. Patricks day for the All-Ireland Club title. Ballyhale are looking for their 4th title to take them top of the winners table with Birr while Loughrea are looking for their first.

The first 3 titles for Ballyhale came back in 81, 84 and 90 when they were powered by the Fennelly clan, since then they’ve had lean times but now driven by current stars Henry Shefflin and Cha Fitzpatrick they are favourites again to claim another title. Loughrea had to overcome reigning champions Portumna in Galway so while it may be their first appearance there’s no doubt they have what it takes to win and make themselves the 6th Galway club to do so.

Given the way Loughrea “took care of” Portumna’s young prodigy Joe Canning in Galway I’m sure they’ll be trying to keep a tight rein on Henry and Cha but as Ballyhale proved in the semi-final comeback win over Toomevara they have a very well rounded team with a host of talented young players who can all step up to the plate.

With plenty of scoring ability on both sides and the wide open spaces of Croke Park we should see a fairly high scoring game. I’ll pick Ballyhale Shamrocks to win on a scoreline of 2-18 to 2-14.

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