1989
Baltinglass Leinster Club Champions 1989
A Robert McHugh point from a free, from a very acute angle a minute from time earned Baltinglass a draw in this Leinster club final with Thomas Davis. This was a dogged confrontation with no quarter asked or given and with defences on top for most of the game. After Thomas Davis had scored the first point of the game Kevin O'Brien gave Baltinglass a real tonic when he crashed home a goal after only three minutes and as half time approached we were leading 1-3 to 0-2. But just as it looked like we would go in to the break with a comfortable lead Pauric Dawane got a curcial goal for Thomas Davis before a Con Murphy point left the half time score 1-4 to 1-2 in favour of Baltinglass. The second half saw Baltinglass very much on the defensive as Thomas Davis started to get on top and when Vinny Carney put them a point ahead with three minutes left it looked like Baltinglass were going to lose their second Leinster final in four years. But up popped Robert McHugh to score the equalising point to tie the scores at 1-6 each and send the game to a replay.
Team : D. Leigh, S. O'Brien, H. Kenny, T. Donohue, B. Kilcoyne, P. Murphy, B. Fitzpatrick, R. Danne, B. Kenny, L. Horgan, R. McHugh (0-3), P. Kenny (0-1), C. Murphy (0-1), K. O'Brien (0-1), T. Murphy (0-1),
Subs : B. Timmins for P. Kenny, T. Fox, G. Bradley, D. Buckley, P. Doody, B. Nolan, D. Lennon, P. Timmins, S. Murphy.
Baltinglass battled back form the brink of defeat to claim their first Leinster Club title when we defeated Thomas Davis 1-9 to 0-11 in this replayed final. Baltinglass got off to a dream start in this game and as he had done in the drawn game Kevin O'Brien scored an early goal and after 10 minutes Baltinglass lead 1-2 to 0-0. But Thomas Davis slowly clawed their way back into the game and by half time trailed Baltinglass by one point 1-3 to 0-5. The first 20 minutes of the second half belonged to Thomas Davis as they completely outplayed their opponents, outscoring us by 5 points to 1 leaving them leading 0-10 to 1-4 entering the last ten minutes of the game. But just as it seemed the title was slipping away from us, Baltinglass dug deep and stormed back into the game to kick 5 points without reply and although Thomas Davis scored the last point of the game Baltinglass claimed their first Leinster Title on a score line of 1-9 to 0-11. It was a long time coming - we all remember the very close matches with Portlaoise and others over the years and some of thos defeats were hard to stomach. However this great win made up for it all and we could now look forward to the All Ireland semi-final for the first time in our histroy.
Team : D. Leigh, S. O'Brien, H. Kenny, T. Donohue, B. Kilcoyne, P. Murphy, B. Fitzpatrick, R. Danne, B. Kenny(0-1), L. Horgan, R. McHugh(0-4), P. Kenny(0-1), C. Murphy, K. O'Brien (1-2), T. Murphy(0-1),
Subs : B. Timmins for L. Horgan, T. Fox B. Kilcoyne, G. Bradley, D. Buckley, P. Doody, B. Nolan, D. Lennon, P. Timmins, S. Murphy.