Eoin Kelly (Waterford hurler)

Eoin Kelly (born 24 September 1982) is an Irish hurler who played as a full-forward at senior level for the waterford county team. He joined the team in 2001 and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement in 2012.[1]

For the Tipperary player, see Eoin Kelly (Tipperary hurler).
Eoin Kelly
Personal information
Irish name Eoin Ó Ceallaigh
Sport Hurling
Position Full-forward
Born (1982-09-24) 24 September 1982
Waterford, Ireland
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Club(s)
Years Club
1999-2006
2007-present
 Mount Sion
Passage
Club titles
Waterford titles 5
Munster titles 1
Inter-county(ies)*
Years County Apps (scores)
2001-2012
 Waterford 46 (14-190)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles 4
All-Irelands 0
NHL 1
All Stars 2
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 22:59, 31 August 2012.

Kelly is one of Waterford's top championship scorers of all-time. He has won four Munster winners' medals and one National League winners' medal. He ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

At club level Kelly is a Munster medalist with Mount Sion. In addition to this he has also won five county club championship medals. He currently plays club hurling with Passage.

Kelly has a number of personal achievements. He has won two All-Star awards and was included on the GPA Gaelic Team of the Year in 2008. That same year he was one of three nominees for Hurler of the Year.[2]

Playing career

Club

Kelly plays his club hurling with Passage, however, it was with the Mount Sion club in Waterford city that he enjoyed his greatest success.

In 1999 Kelly was still a minor when he lined out in his first county club championship. As reigning champions Mount Sion surrendered their title to Ballygunner.

The club were back the following year to exact revenge. A 1-20 to 0-9 defeat of Ballygunner gave Kelly a first county championship medal.[3]

Mount Sion surrendered their club title in 2001, however, Kelly's side were back in the final again in 2002. A 1-19 to 2-14 defeat of Ballygunner secured the championship once again.[4] It was the first of three county final victories in-a-row over Ballygunner.[5][6]

In 2002 Kelly won a Munster club medal as Mount Sion defeated Sixmilebridge to take the title.[7] The club was defeated in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final.

Four club titles in-a-row proved beyond Mount Sion, however, the club bounced back in 2006 with Kelly winning a fifth county championship medal following a seven-point defeat of Ballygunner.[8]

By 2007 Kelly was playing with Passage. In his debut year with the team he captured a county intermediate championship medal following a 2-16 to 1-13 defeat of Dungarvan.[9]

Inter-county

Kelly joined the Waterford senior team during the 2001 National Hurling when he started in a group stage game against Derry, however, he played no part in the subsequent championship.

The following year Kelly made his championship debut in a Munster semi-final victory over Cork. He later claimed his first Munster winners' medal as Waterford defeated Tipperary by 2-23 to 3-12 to claim the provincial crown for the first time in thirty-nine years.[10]

After surrendering the Munster title to Cork in 2003, Kelly's side were back in the provincial showpiece for a third successive year in 2004. In the Munster final, Waterford defeated Cork for the first time in forty-five years to take the title by 3-16 to 1-21.

In 2007 Kelly added a National Hurling League medal to his collection when Waterford defeated Kilkenny by 0-20 to 0-18 in the final.[11] He later claimed a third Munster winners' medal as Waterford defeated Limerick by 3-17 to 1-14 in the provincial decider.[12] While Waterford were viewed as possibly going on and winning the All-Ireland title for the first time in almost half a century, Limerick ambushed Kelly's side in the All-Ireland semi-final.

2008 began poorly for Waterford as the team lost their opening game to Clare as well as their manager Justin McCarthy. In spite of this poor start Kelly's side reached the All-Ireland final for the first time in forty-five years. Kilkenny provided the opposition and went on to defeat Waterford by 3-30 to 1-13 to claim a third All-Ireland title in-a-row.[13]

Kelly lined out in a sixth Munster final in 2010 with Cork providing the opposition. A 2-15 apiece draw was the result on that occasion, however, Waterford went on to win the replay after an extra-time goal by Dan Shanahan. It was a fourth Munster winners' medal for Kelly, a record that he shares with five other Waterford players.

At the start of 2012 Kelly was dropped from the Waterford panel by new manager Michael Ryan. It was claimed that his fitness and commitment to the squad did not meet the requirements of the new management team.[14][15][16] After a period in exile Kelly returned to the panel for the latter stages of the National League.[17] The year eventually ended without any silverware for Waterford and Kelly decided to retire from inter-county hurling.

Inter-provincial

Kelly was a regular on the Munster team during numerous campaigns in the Interprovincial Championship. He captured two winners' medals in this competition.[18]

Career statistics
Team Year National League Munster All-Ireland Total
DivisionAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScore
Waterford 2001 Division 1B 30-0100-0000-0030-01
2002 Division 1A 20-0120-0310-0450-08
2003 43-1040-0710-0093-17
2004 60-1031-1110-01101-22
2005 82-3710-0640-06132-49
2006 50-1500-0041-1091-25
2007 81-6121-0930-11132-81
2008 62-2900-0057-43119-72
2009 Division 1 62-3031-2521-21114-76
2010 54-4731-2210-0595-74
2011 30-0020-0020-0470-04
2012 Division 1A 20-0121-0100-0041-01
Total 5814-242225-84249-7610428-402

Honours

Team
Passage
Mount Sion
Waterford
Munster

References
  1. "Déise star Kelly calls it a day". Irish Examiner. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  2. "GAA Player of the Year nominees revealed". RTÉ Sport. 30 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. Dickinson, Matt (4 September 2000). "Browne leads his Mount back to top". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  4. Hickey, Paddy (7 October 2000). "McGrath masters lead Sion to promised land". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  5. "McGrath goal sets a record". Hogan Stand website. 9 November 2003. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  6. Scanlan, Shane (11 October 2004). "Marvellous Mount's three on the bounce a Sion of their recent times". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  7. "Mount Sion are champs of Munster". Hogan Stand website. 2 December 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  8. Flanagan, Adrian (23 October 2006). "McGraths fire Sion to victory over Gunners". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  9. "Passage the victors in epic intermediate final". The Munster Express. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. Breheny, Martin (1 July 2002). "Waterford wonders whip Tipp with awesome display". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  11. Breheny, Martin (4 May 2007). "Waterford end 44-year faminewith National League title". Munster Express. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  12. Breheny, Martin (9 July 2007). "Dynamic Dan adds some extra dash for the Déise". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  13. "RTÉ Sport: Kilkenny 3-30 Waterford 1-13". RTÉ Sport. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  14. "Kelly dropped from Waterford squad". RTÉ Sport. 3 January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  15. "Ryan says Kelly was dropped over fitness". RTÉ Sport. 5 January 2012. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  16. "Waterford drop Kelly". Irish Independent. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  17. "Kelly and Mullane return to training with Waterford". RTÉ Sport. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  18. "Railway Cup Hurling". Munster GAA website. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
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