Minor loss fired Cats to U-21 win, says Dempsey
The former Laois football manager, who was involved with his first inter-county hurling team, said "There was a bit of pressure on them to win, but we probably didn't see it that way.
"The fellows just wanted it really, because when they were a minor team they got beaten. They didn't even win Leinster," he pointed out.
"In Kilkenny, they were seen as a team that wasn't good, failures even. For that reason the lads were very determined to put the record straight and thankfully we did."
Actually, Kilkenny didn't contest the Leinster minor final of 2000, a statistic all the more noteworthy for the reason that they had won the previous nine titles.
Offaly put them out in the semi-final. However, a number of that team won medals the following year and two of the players who lined out on Sunday wing-forward Willie O'Dwyer (Mullinavat) and full-forward Michael Rice from Carrickshock were members of the All-Ireland winning team of last season.
In spite of their provincial monopoly, that was only Kilkenny's first national title since 1993. Last weekend they retained it.
Dempsey came to Kilkenny three years ago, when he bought a pub in the centre of the city and got involved with St Martin's football club.
It led to him helping out with their intermediate hurling team they won the county championship last year and an invitation to join the Kilkenny U21 management.
"I have no background in hurling but when you come to Kilkenny it's all around you. It's an honour to be involved. The players were very committed and obviously good hurlers. They put in a huge effort all year.
"The dedication and commitment has to be seen to be believed. It's more than a religion," he added.
"The senior win did put a bit of pressure on us really, in terms of the celebrations around the county. We were back training on Tuesday night and all of our (eight) players on the senior panel came in.
"That showed incredible dedication. We trained Wednesday night and they were all there and it was the same when we trained on Friday night. That's not easy for amateur sportspeople.
"You'd imagine that these players would have been satisfied with a senior title, but they wanted to win the Under-21. We trained hard all year. There was a serious effort put into it."
It's only the third time that the senior, under-21 and minor treble has been achieved, Cork managing it in 1970 and Kilkenny equalling that feat five years later - with Brian Cody and Billy Fitzpatrick on both the senior and U21 sides.
Kilkenny were deprived of a clean sweep of the hurling championships this year when Cork defeated them in the intermediate final as a result of an injury-time goal.
Remarkably, with the All-Ireland U21 hurling championship being inaugurated in 1964, the individual scoring record of 1-12 in a final established by Bernie Meade from Cork in 1968, has never been surpassed.
In fact, no player has managed to equal the second, third and fourth placed tallies which were all scored more than 30 years ago!
Seanie Barry got 2-8 for Cork in the first of the three finals against Wexford in 1966, Mick Butler from Wexford scored 1-10 against Cork in another draw in 1970 and this total was matched by the late Connie Kelly for Cork in the replay.
The following year, John Rothwell from Cork scored four goals against Wexford.
The next highest total 11 points wasn't managed until 1987, when Leo O'Connor scored 2-5 against Galway. That was matched by Tipperary's Dan Quirke 3-2 against Offaly in 1989 and by another Limerick player Mark Keane with 1-8 in the 2000 final against Galway.
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