Skippers promise more drama

MICHAEL JACOB has a fairly clear idea of the advantages which Kilkenny hurling enjoys in respect of the relative progress, or lack of it, made by Wexford.

Football’s popularity in the Model county, the number of dual clubs and the way the championship is structured all conspire to hold them back.

In Kilkenny they don’t have to worry about football, says the young Wexford captain, almost enviously.

In practical terms, his own club hasn’t played a championship game since May - similar to last season, when they had to wait until around the end of July to renew activity. He points out that Kilkenny are playing matches “the whole time”.

“The more you play, the more you improve. In Wexford we have 16 senior teams, which is too many. Kilkenny have 12. We either have to reduce the number of senior teams or seriously look at improving the standard of the championship,” he says.

Jacob and Kilkenny captain Peter Barry came together face-to-face at a media briefing in Dr Cullen Park in Carlow yesterday, where they got a sneak preview of the new Bob O’Keeffe trophy, which one of them will be presented with next weekend.

These are the same two players who were central to the high drama played out in last year’s Leinster semi-final, when Jacob blocked Barry’s clearance to score an injury-time goal, giving Wexford a sensational win.

“I was just looking to get the ball away and Michael had got in a few good blocks already,” the popular Kilkenny skipper recalled.

“He got his hurl to it, it bounced up nicely and he buried it. For a second you wondered if you had time to come back, but I knew we were beaten. Wexford thoroughly deserved it, we had no complaints.”

Jacob recalls: “I was close to the goal, I just turned and hit it. I hoped for the best ... and it went in.”

Both captains agreed that while their teams are each guaranteed places in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, there is still a lot of pride at stake on Sunday. Jacob says that the reaction of the Tipperary players in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last weekend indicated the importance of a provincial championship.

“They kept going for the second half and they could have won the game. They looked fierce disappointed afterwards. If you are in a final you go out to win it, even though you are still going to be in the championship. We have won only one Leinster title in the last five or six years. It’s still very prestigious,” he said.

Barry concurs and again points to Tipp’s second-half showing.

“The value we put on our Leinster medals, the value they hold on Munster medals, is immeasurable. If we thought they were not worth fighting for, the match last Sunday would have been poor and the match on Sunday would be poor. But it’s going to be a cracker, because the two teams know each other well.”

Barry wouldn’t be as pessimistic about the state of the game in Leinster as it is sometimes portrayed. Kilkenny set a goal to beat Offaly and get into the Leinster final to try to win back the title. They got a good start and Offaly couldn’t recover. It would have been a different story if the teams met a week later, he suggested.

“Waterford are very worried about them. They are good hurlers. There’s nothing wrong with Offaly and the same with Laois and Dublin. After Waterford beat Clare in the championship last year, nobody said there was anything wrong with Clare hurling.”

He also feels that too much is made in the media about competition for places in the Kilkenny side. They simply have “a good pick of players” - with 12 senior clubs and the same number at intermediate level.

“There’s always going to be lads knocking on the door. If they’re not, there’s something wrong with hurling in the county. Since I started playing, from minor up, there has always been competition,” he said.

And he warns punters to forget about the form guide ahead of Sunday, especially their League meeting in Nowlan Park when Kilkenny won with 30 points to spare. His attitude is that, for all the talk about star players on their team, once the game gets under way, it’s a level playing field.

Jacob agrees. These games invariably produce good contests and confound the predictions.

“My goal last year was a bit lucky and Damien (Fitzhenry) made a great save from Henry Shefflin. Back in 2002 we had absolutely no luck. We lost by two points even though we had a lot of chances to win the game.”

Barry agrees that while a lot is made about Kilkenny confidence, he holds a different perspective.

“We have lads with good experience and some new lads. I wouldn’t use the word confidence, but everyone will go out knowing they have the potential and the ability to do what they can do ... and they will be striving to do that.

“You want to achieve. You do it in an individual basis and it falls through to the team. All we want to do is win games ... from the Walsh Cup right up to the Leinster final.”