'Hard to put into words'– Clough-Ballacolla captain Aidan Corby following County Final victory

Clough-Ballacolla captain Aidan Corby achieved a special milestone on Sunday, leading his team to a Laois Senior Hurling Championship win over Rathdowney-Errill.

Speaking after the game, Corby struggled to find words to express the emotions of captaining a championship-winning side.

"It's an unreal feeling, to be honest. It's hard to put into words. It's stuff you definitely dream of, and just to get over the line, it's unreal, it's hard to describe it," Corby shared.

Clough-Ballacolla had a slow start, allowing Rathdowney-Errill to control the first half, heading into the break four points down. While unsure of the exact cause of their sluggish opening, Corby noted that his team always finishes games stronger.

"I don't know what it is about us. Every time we go out in the first half, we're useless, and we always finish strong. We didn't panic one bit at half-time. We were only four points down, which is nothing in a game of hurling. Everyone was calm, and we knew what we had to do, especially with the breeze in the second half. We always finish stronger, to be honest," he said.

One of Clough-Ballacolla's key tasks was neutralising Rathdowney-Errill’s star players, Paddy Purcell, Roddy King and Eric Killeen. Corby emphasised that keeping them quiet was crucial to their game plan.

"If you let those three boys hurl, you won't win any game. Especially Paddy and Roddy, and Eric under the high ball. If we were able to stop that, we felt like we had a good chance of winning. Diarmaid (Conway) is an absolute animal in there, I’d hate to be Roddy King marking him. Nullify them three, and in fairness, you have a good chance of winning," Corby explained.

Clough-Ballacolla's second-half resurgence was driven by better ball distribution to their forwards, with Rathdowney-Errill managing only seven points after the break.

"There were good balls being played into the boys, right out in front of them. They're lethal inside, (Willie) Dunphy, Stevo (Bergin) and Picky (Maher). If they have a bit of space, it's hard to contain them. They did all the damage in the second half," Corby added.

Corby reserved special praise for Picky Maher, who delivered a remarkable 1-13 in the final, highlighting his reliability on the biggest stages.

"He's ageing like fine wine, plenty of legs left in Picky. He's unreal. Mr Reliable, especially on the big day. Every final he's had, he's been absolutely class and thank God we have him," Corby said.

Next up for Clough-Ballacolla is a familiar challenge in Leinster as they prepare to face the Dublin champions once again.

"The last three times now we've played the Dublin champions. We got the better of them once and they beat us the last time," Corby concluded.