The O’Connor Cup is a special SH competition contested by teams who fail to reach the semi-finals of the senior championship. As well as being historic, this was also a victory of great merit - Kilcormac/Killoughey came within a whisker of reaching the 2000 SHC final when they ran Seir Kieran to the wire.
But the much-improved Ballyskenach men were too strong for them in this decider, with the unerringly-accurate Tom O’Toole contributing a personal tally of 1-8, all from placed balls.
There were jubilant scenes after the final whistle when Eugene Hannon received the cup, which commemorates the late Michael O’Connor.
The winners will be hoping to use this win as a platform from which to launch a good championship run in 2002 and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t make an impact in the coming season, especially bearing in mind that they disposed of Kilcormac/Killoughey comfortably despite playing the final without the services of the Murphy twins Noel and Cathal, John Dooley and Mick O’Hara.