Michael Fennelly (hurler)

Michael Fennelly (born 28 February 1985 in Ballyhale, County Kilkenny) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Ballyhale Shamrocks and has been a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team since 2006. Fennelly captained Kilkenny to a fourth consecutive All-Ireland title in 2009.

Playing career

Club

Fennelly plays his club hurling with his local club Ballyhale Shamrocks and has enjoyed much success. He first came to prominence on the club's under-21 team that captured a unique four-in-a-row of under-21 Roinn A titles. These victories occurred in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. This achievement overtook the previous record of three-in-a-row which was set by Ballyhale in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

Fennelly subsequently joined the Ballyhale senior team. He lined out in the county final of 2006 with O'Loughlin Gaels providing the opposition. A classic was expected, however, Ballyhale were far too strong on the day. A 1-22 to 2-11 score line gave Fennelly a coveted county senior championship winners' medal.^[1] Ballyhale later reached the final of the provincial club championship and defeated Birr. It was Fennelly's first Leinster club title. The club later qualified for the All-Ireland final with Loughrea of Galway providing the opposition. Fitzpatrick played a key role in that game and went on to collect a coveted All-Ireland club medal.^[2]

2007 saw Ballyhale continued their winning ways with the club winning a second consecutive county title following a trouncng of St. Martin's. Fennelly's side were later defeated in the Leinster club semi-final by Birr.^[3]

In 2008 Ballyhale were the masters of Kilkenny club hurling once again. Fennelly helped his club to qualify for a fourth consecutive county final. City rivals James Stephens provided the opposition on that occasion, however, a close game saw victory go to Fennelly's side. It was a third county title in-a-row for 'the Shamrocks'.^[4] Fennelly later claimed another Leinster club title following a 2-13 to 1-11 defeat of great rivals Birr in the provincial decider.^[5] Their great run of success came to a halt with a thrilling defeat by Portumna in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Minor & under-21

Fennelly first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny minor hurling team in the early 2000s. He won his first Leinster title in this grade in 2003 and he later lined out in his first minor championship decider. Galway provided the opposition on that occasion; however, it was Kilkenny who won the game, giving Fennelly a coveted All-Ireland medal.

Fennelly later moved on to the county under-21 team with whom he won his first Leinster under-21 title in 2004. He later played a key part as his native-county recorded an All-Ireland final victory over Tipperary in the championship decider. 2005 saw Fennelly add a second Leinster under-21 medal to his collection; however, 'the Cats' were later defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland final. In 2006 he won a third consecutive Leinster under-21 title before collecting a second All-Ireland under-21 medal after a defeat of Tipperary in a replay at Semple Stadium after a thrilling draw had been played out in Croke Park the previous week.^[6]

Senior

Fennelly made his senior debut for 'the Cats' in 2006 and proved to be a new find for manager Brian Cody. He began the year by winning both Walsh Cup and National Hurling League honours with Kilkenny. These victories were followed by Fennelly winning his first senior Leinster title following a win over Wexford. Kilkenny later defeated Cork to win the All-Ireland final, however, Fennelly played no part in that game.^[7]

In 2007 Fennelly regained his place on the Kilkenny team. After losing the National League final the team move don undeterred and Fitzpatrick collected a second Leinster medal following another facile victory in the provincial decider. After a minor scare against Galway Kilkenny later qualified for the All-Ireland final where, surprisingly, Limerick provided the opposition. Kilkenny got off to a flying start with Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin scoring two goals within the first ten minutes. Fennelly came on as a substitute at half-time, however, Shefflin sustained an injury during the game and had to retire. In spite of losing their captain and star player Kilkenny still went on to win the game by 2-19 to 1-15.^[8] It was Fennelly's first All-Ireland medal on the field of play.

2008 saw Kilkenny launch an all-out attack in an attempt to capture a third All-Ireland title in-a-row. Fennelly only made one championship appearance that year, however, Kilkenny defeated Waterford by 3-30 to 1-13 to take a third consecutive All-Ireland title.^[9]

In 2009 Fennelly was honoured by being appointed captain of the Kilkenny senior hurling team for the year, however, he still failed to establish himself on the team. J.J. Delaney and Henry Shefflin deputised as captains during his absences. Fennelly missed out on lifting the Walsh Cup at the start of the year because Ballyhale Shamrocks were still involved in the All-Ireland club series. The subsequent National League campaign saw Kilkenny reach the final and line out against Tipperary. Fennelly was due to start at midfield, however, he was struck down with an illness and could not even travel with the team. Kilkenny won that game in spite of their captain's absence.^[10] Fennelly's appearances in the subsequent provincial and All-Ireland championships were also sporadic. After starting at midfield in Kilkenny's Leinster semi-final defeat of Galway, he was dropped for the subsequent provincial decider. Kilkenny defeated Dublin by 2-18 to 0-18 on that occasion, and Fennelly collected the famous Bob O'Keeffe Cup as a non-playing captain. His next appearance with Kilkenny was as a substitute in the All-Ireland final against Tipperary. For much of the match it looked as if Tipp would pull off a shock and deny 'the Cats' a record-equaling four-in-a-row. Two quick goals in the space of a minute sealed a 2-22 to 0-23 victory. Fennelly thus became the fourth consecutive Kilkenny captain to lif the famed Liam McCarthy Cup.^[11] Fennelly was named as the GAA GPA Hurler of the year in 2011.^[12] He was shortlisted for RTÉ Sports Person of the Year in 2011.^[13]

References

Teams