Dream call-up for Coogan caps remarkable return from injury
McEvoy is the player who loses out to the 23-year-old Tullaroan player, who made a dramatic recovery from a serious injury last year which threatened his playing career, while Carter will be on the substitutes bench.
It means that Eddie Brennan holds on to his position in the right corner-forward, with D.J. Carey guaranteed selection in the other corner after an outstanding display last game.
Manager Brian Cody admitted that it had been difficult team to pick because of the competition for places.
Coogan came on for McEvoy for the last 15 minutes of the semi-final against Tipperary, scoring a goal and a point.
Cody admitted after the Tipperary game that Coogan’s exposure with his club in the two weeks after the Leinster final victory had partly influenced his selection as a substitute against Tipperary.
“But Jimmy is a player who has been showing good club for quite a while. He probably would have come to the fore even quicker but for a serious injury which kept him out of hurling for the best part of a year. He showed great determination and resolve in fighting his way back to fitness,” he said.
“We have every confidence in his ability.”
Cody said all players had benefited from being involved with their clubs after the Leinster final.
“It meant that they had genuine match practice, which undoubtedly improved their sharpness.”
The first player from the Tullaroan club to play in a final since Bill Hennessy and Liam Keoghan, Coogan
severed his cruciate ligament in a club game last year and other injuries including a cracked thigh bone.
At one stage, he believed he would not be able to hurl again, but in six months, he was back jogging, defying medical opinion.
In his club’s League semi-final, he scored 0-11 in a draw, and nine points in the replay. In the 2000 National League campaign, he finished Kilkenny’s top scorer with 1-27.
Before team selection, it was suggested that Carter would regain his place in the right corner over Brennan. Carter impressed in the Tipperary game after coming on for Brennan at the three-quarter stage. Brennan is one of five players who will be playing in their first All-Ireland final (although he came in as a substitute in the 2000 win over Offaly).
*The others are wing-backs Richard Mullally and J.J. Delaney, midfielder Derek Lyng and full-forward Martin Comerford.
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