Ballyhale Shamrocks boss Maurice Aylward believes that focus will be the key for his players this Sunday when they take on Offaly champions Birr in the Leinster senior hurling club final. Both sides hold four All-Ireland titles each and the Shamrocks face a massive challenge against the defending Leinster champions, according to Aylward. "Let's call a spade a spade," he said. "Birr have been one of the best teams in the country for the past 10 years, no doubt about that. We've played them a couple of times in the last few years and they have won one and so have we so it's all to play for." While Ballyhale boast the likes of Kilkenny stars Henry Shefflin and captain James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick, Aylward believes that it's the lesser-known assets of the Shamrocks who deserve real laud at the end of the day. "The likes of Eamonn Walsh, Paul Shefflin (Henry's brother), Bob Aylward, Patrick Reid and others are all great club men. They are seriously good hurlers and I suppose people don't really hear that much about them. But those boys would get on most inter-county teams around the country but it's just that they are from Kilkenny and that's a very hard team to get on." The second-half of Ballyhale's county final saw them stutter last month, but still come away with victory. A much more focused performance against Raharney in Leinster saw that issue addressed, according to Aylward, and the Shamrocks boss knows that's what will be need if his side are to book their place in the last four of the All-Ireland series come Sunday evening. "We weren't really playing that well in the second-half of games. That was certainly true of the county final when we went out of it completely - especially in the forwards - but I think we addressed that. We scored 13 points in each half against Raharney and you can't get much more even than that. "But it's hard to prepare right, especially at this time of year. TJ Reid was playing in an Under 21 match last weekend and he has played six matches in six weeks. County teams have much more time to prepare. But we just try and keep them sharp. They all have their fitness at this time of year so it's just a matter of keeping them as focused as possible. "We need to be for a game like this." Tweet

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