Treble can spell senior trouble

LIMERICK’S treble in the All-Ireland Under-21 championship offers no guarantee of success at senior level, new manager Pat Joe Whelahan claimed yesterday.

"People say it's a great for any county to win three Under-21 All-Irelands, but I would sooner win minors. If you can't make it at 19 or 20 on a county team, you're not going to make it. But when you win a minor title, you are getting players at 18 and you can work with them," he said.

Whelahan, who has enjoyed record success with Birr in the club championship, at county, provincial and national level was last involved at intercounty level with Offaly in 1989 when they defeated Kilkenny in the Leinster final but were shocked by Antrim.

"Wrong place at the right time," he joked. "But, I wouldn't hold it against Antrim. They were coming at the time. The year before they should have beaten Kilkenny in Dundalk."

Agreeing that his team faces two huge games against Cork and Tipperary in the coming weeks, Whelahan insisted he "was building for next year".

"This year, if anything happens, it happens," he said, adding that he will be holding a further trial on March 6 and that his panel was open to change.

"I'll keep it open as long as I can. Anyone I think is good enough I'll bring in."

Meanwhile, Antrim manager Dinny Cahill has set his team the challenge of retaining their place in Division One.

"The last two years in Division Two gave me the opportunity to try out players.

Now that we have a reasonably settled panel, I think we're capable of competing at this level," he commented.

"I feel that if I can get a good run in Division One and stay there it will be very beneficial to the team," he added.