Galway going all out to halt purring Cats

KILKENNY will have an opportunity to further widen their domination of all things hurling when they take on Galway in Sunday’s Erin All-Ireland U-21 final in Thurles.

With the senior and minor titles secured last weekend, victory over the Tribesmen would give the county three of the game's top honours and perhaps deepen concerns that every other county is too far behind Kilkenny at the moment.

Given he is leading a team towards such a monumental achievement, you expect Martin Fogarty, the Kilkenny manager, to be showing some signs of pressure. But there was none exhibited in the Shelbourne Hotel yesterday.

"There's no pressure," Fogarty said. "I don't believe there is extra pressure this Sunday than any other time you go on a field. I suppose with the lads winning last Sunday, people will be hoping for Kilkenny to get all three titles. But we are facing a very good Galway side."

Fogarty joked that he hasn't taken his eyes off the eight senior players on his team since Sunday evening. Included among those are JJ Delaney and Tommy Walsh both had excellent finals and Conor Phelan who made an appearance in the second half. Despite only being 21, Delaney is already been considered a prospective hurler of the year and Fogarty accepts a lot hangs on the performance of his centre-back on Sunday.

"JJ is an outstanding player. I don't think I have ever seen him hurl a bad game. He is the sort of player every team needs and Tommy, well he can play everywhere but the goals and he showed what he is capable of in the first-half last Sunday."

Five of his first choice were sitting on the bench last weekend, and the second successive All-Ireland title has created its own difficulties for the U21 manager.

"It has been difficult, getting all the players training together. But I think U21 is an important level. Players appreciate that. If a player shows well at U21 level, particularly in next Sunday's final, he will be spotted by the senior team."

Galway manager John Hardiman also emphasised the importance of retaining the competition.

"The last couple of years have seen exceptional championships, particularly the games played in Munster. They have raised the profile of the competition beyond anything they knew before and there is no fear of this competition being down-graded.

Last year, Galway arrived in Thurles and were trounced by a vibrant Limerick. A year later, they are back and Hardiman believes, more mature. Amid scenes of confusion in Ennis, a goal three minutes into injury time brought them into extra-time against a highly-fancied Tipp side. And a dazzling display.

However, Hardiman, who led Loughrea to a All-Ireland colleges title in 1995, believes his side have developed greatly due to last year's experience.

"Nobody likes to lose an All-Ireland final, and especially to lose one without doing yourself justice is very hard to take. I think it was important for this team to beat the Munster champions in the semi-final, and I think the way they came back, after going 1-2 to 0-0 behind will stand to them."

Galway supporters will take great heart from the big-hearted display by their minors last Sunday, ultimately losing out to a Richie Power point.

While Fogarty hasn't used any minors in his team, Hardiman introduced Niall Healy as a sub against Tipp and the talented forward scored a point.

With Ger Farragher driving them on, Galway have the potential to derail Kilkenny's treble dreams.

But Galway always have the potential, the questions lay elsewhere.

The way they ground out a result against Tipperary seem to suggest those questions don't hang over Hardiman's team.