Ballyhale won their fourth consecutive Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship with a four-point victory over O'Loughlin Gaels on Sunday.
Ballyhale's reign had looked in doubt at half-time with O'Loughlin Gaels holding a three-point lead.
"You try to keep calm," Man of the Match Ronan Corcoran told TG4 about the atmosphere in the Ballyhale dressing room at the break.
"There's no point in going nuts at each other at half-time because it's not going to achieve much. We just tried to keep the head. The likes of TJ (Reid) in the forwards, Eoin Cody, Adrian (Mullen)... eventually things are going to start happening. We got a goal out of Joe Cuddihy, and then we just let loose.
"It was tough going. There's no doubt about it. We knew O'Loughlins were going to come with ferocity, tackling hard.
"We just stayed at it like we always do, and we broke them down eventually but it was not easy."
Lán Ama
“We broke them down eventually but it wasn't easy!” 👌
Is é Ronan Corcoran Laoch na hImeartha inniu!
Comhghairdeas leat! 👏@GAA_BEO #GAABEO pic.twitter.com/tBKqwlh2lr— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) November 7, 2021
The win - 3-19 to 3-15 - is the tenth senior county title of TJ Reid's career.
"As a player, you don't look back on what you've achieved in the past because you'd be very silly to do that," he said.
"As a player, the motivation is to win as much as you can. Today, we had plenty at stake. The county final was at stake, back-to-back was at stake, and four-in-a-row was at stake.
"Last week, it was mentioned to us, 'Guys, if you lose today, we're back to zero'. That was the fear today, lose and we're back to zero, and we're starting all over again."
The great @_tjreid ag caint le #GAABEO after today's epic county final. #GAA pic.twitter.com/ADLYRADu62
— GAA BEO TG4 (@GAA_BEO) November 7, 2021
See Also: Pat Spillane Jnr Man Of The Match In Dublin Semi-Final
