Kelly won’t say no to rub of the green

HE’S still only 23, but it seems like Tipperary sharpshooter Eoin Kelly has been around for a long time.

It probably reflects the major impact he has had at all levels since he was promoted to the senior squad five years ago, having compressed so much quality hurling into a comparatively short time.

People have likened him to a younger version of DJ Carey; fast, mobile, full of tricks and with a penchant for scoring goals. When he was introduced to the extended panel for the 2000 Munster championship, it was as reserve goalkeeper. But it was as a forward that he made his debut, introduced late in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway. That was after Tipp had lost to Cork in the last Munster final meeting of the counties, in Semple Stadium.