At 22, James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick has already achieved what most inter-county hurlers can only dream of. But, as he explains to Randal Scally, nothing would give him more satisfaction than winning an All-Ireland club title with his beloved Ballyhale Shamrocks. James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick may be the most decorated young hurler in the country right now, but you would never guess from talking to him. Despite his incredible achievements with Kilkenny last year, 'Cha' is modesty personified. There are no frills or notions about the young trainee teacher who is hoping to bring the curtain down on a perfect season by helping Ballyhale Shamrocks to a record-equalling fourth All-Ireland club hurling title. "Last year was an unbelievable year for me and it would be the icing on the cake if we could win in Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day," he says. "An All-Ireland club is the medal everyone wants. You're playing with guys you've known all your life. I've been lucky enough to win All-Ireland medals in the last few years, but I think an All-Ireland club medal would top the lot. "It would be even more special than the All-Ireland senior medal I won with Kilkenny last year. There are less than 1,000 people in our parish and it would be some achievement for the club to win a fourth All-Ireland title and our first since the time the Fennellys were playing. But there is no point talking about it until we've actually achieved it." Fitzpatrick's exploits with club and county in 2006 ranks as one of the most astonishing individual silverware hauls in GAA history. The year began with him picking up Walsh Cup and National League medals and this was followed by Leinster championship wins at senior and under 21 level. Then came the All-Ireland senior and under 21 victories with Kilkenny and the county and provincial championship successes with Ballyhale. As the year drew to a close, 'Cha' also won his first All-Star and claimed the Young Hurler of the Year award. And just before Christmas, he received the keys to a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer after being chosen as Kilkenny Hurler of the Year. But all of that is history now as 'Cha' and his Ballyhale team-mates close in on the biggest prize in club hurling. After losing the 2005 county final to the then reigning All-Ireland champions James Stephens, the south Kilkenny outfit were hell-bent on making amends last year, and they never looked back after coming from eight points down to beat neighbours Carrickshock in the quarter-final. They then accounted for Dunnamaggin before Henry Shefflin inspired them to a comfortable 1-22 to 2-11 victory over O'Loughlin Gaels in the county decider. The Hurler of the Year was in superb form as he notched up 0-10 to help Shamrocks to their first title since 1991. The result was never in doubt with Maurice Alyward's charges ahead by 1-14 to 2-4 at the interval. The Shamrocks goal was scored by Mark Aylward in the 19th minute. "Everything went right for us," 'Cha' recalls. "It made up for the disappointment of 2005 when eight or nine of the team were still under 21. They say you have to lose one before you can win one and that was the case with us. This team had been coming for a few years. Last year we won our fourth under 21 title in-a-row so we were probably due a senior championship." The following weekend, the newly-crowned Kilkenny champions defeated Rathnure by 2-14 to 1-10 to qualify for the Leinster final where they faced Birr - the club whose record of four All-Ireland titles Shamrocks are chasing. The Offaly kingpins were expected to provide stern opposition, but Shamrocks gave an exhibition of hurling to win by 1-20 to 1-8. There were shades of Shamrocks' county championship quarter-final clash with Carrickshock when the Ballyhale boys staged an even greater comeback to overhaul Munster and Tipperary champions Toomevara in a remarkable All-Ireland semi-final at Portlaoise. The Kilkenny side trailed by 12 points during the first half and by eight at half-time, but they refused to throw in the towel and had reduced Toomevara's advantage to four points when their captain Tommy Dunne was sent off with 12 minutes remaining. The comeback continued when Fitzpatrick goaled seven minutes from time and Patrick Reid levelled before late points from Bob Aylward and Henry Shefflin sealed a 2-20 to 3-14 victory. "One of the real strengths of this team is that we never know when we're beaten and are a great second half team," enthuses Fitzpatrick, who was given the name 'Cha' as a child because his blond hair was likened to that of a Charollais bull! "Twelve points was a massive deficit to come back from, and a lot of people didn't think it was possible against a team of Toomevara's calibre. But the comeback we made against Carrickshock gave us the belief that it could be done. There is huge belief in the team and a lot of the credit for this must go to our manager Maurice Aylward and his selectors John Shefflin, Paul Aylward and Tommy Phelan." 'Cha' watched Loughrea's All-Ireland club semi-final victory over Cushendall on television, and was impressed by their skill and strong work ethic. Their performance has left him in no doubt that Shamrocks will get nothing easy on St. Patrick's Day. "Loughrea are a solid team with plenty of talented hurlers. We're not a big team by any means and we'll need to be more physical if we're to beat Loughrea. Galway teams have a great tradition in the club championship and we're under no illusions about the task we face. "Like us, Loughrea will want to complete the job now that they've come this far. It's going to be a tough, physical battle but it would be a big mistake on our part to dwell too much on the opposition. We've got to concentrate on our own game," he says. Fitzpatrick hails from a family of six boys and three girls in Ballyhale. His background is steeped in hurling. "My father Edward captained the Kilkenny minors and my grandfather John won All-Ireland senior medals in 1932 and '33. My older brother Dick was a sub on the St. Kieran's All-Ireland winning team in 2000, so hurling was always a part of my life," he explains. Fitzpatrick captained St. Kieran's to win an All-Ireland Colleges title in 2003 (a victory which he dedicated to his late mother Brigid), by which time he had savoured All-Ireland minor success. He also won an All-Ireland senior medal with the Cats in 2003 when he was better known as a forward, but last year he was employed as a midfielder to great effect. 'Cha' has a year left in his Bachelor of Education degree at St. Patrick's College in Drumcondra. St. Pat's have a formidable Fitzgibbon Cup team this year which is backboned by Kilkenny stars Richie Power, Paddy and Richie Hogan and, of course, Fitzpatrick. Having won a clean sweep of inter-county medals in just four years, much is expected of the Young Hurler of the Year whenever he takes the field. But he takes it all in his stride and will be back in the thick of things with Kilkenny as soon as the All-Ireland club final is over. "You'd like a break sometimes, but when you're winning it's a lot easier to keep going. I'm finished playing under 21 hurling, so there won't be the same demands on me from now on. "The All-Ireland club final promises to be a great occasion and hopefully we'll come out on the right side of the result. There is plenty of hurling in this Ballyhale team and I know that if we get going in attack, we'll be very hard to stop." Tweet

Most Read Stories