Mullen wary as Galway bid for hat-trick over Cork teams
Coach Vincent Mullen plays down chances of a clean sweep, preferring to concentrate on a semi-final he feels will be very difficult to win: "Galway are having an excellent season with three teams in All-Ireland finals. We don't want to be the team to let the county down but under age teams can be something of an unknown entity.
"This is our first championship outing and I honestly don't know how good we are. We have a very experienced side but there is nothing like a competitive match to tell you about your players.
"We are picking off three minor teams which contested the last three All-Ireland finals in-a-row, winning two, but that's no guarantee. The advantage is with Cork in that they have played three championship matches, and I fancied Tipp to beat them in the Munster final.
"Cork hurled well in that final and didn't give Tipperary a look in. They won't want to lose to us for a third time this year."
Cork coach Seanie O'Gorman agrees Galway will be difficult opponents: "They are on a mighty roll and in line for a clean sweep. It's a great incentive.
"We looked for and got a great start against Tipperary in the Munster final and will be looking for the same. You saw what they did to our minors after taking a 2-5 to nil lead inside the first 10 minutes. We certainly could not afford to give their U-21s a similar start.
"Galway's record at minor level over the last couple of years is better than ours and they have a far bigger crop of players coming through. But, like all games this season, it will all come down to how well you perform on the day.
"Apart from winning the game for ourselves, we need to stop Galway's surge for our seniors, and I would be confident of doing that if we get off to a good start. It's half the battle."
Still smarting from their seniors' defeat, defending champions Kilkenny should have little difficulty in their semi-final against Antrim in Navan this evening. They include seven senior players, three of whom, John Tennyson, PJ Delaney and Richie Power, played in the senior semi-final. With the northerners in disarray, it's hard to see the Cats being beaten.
But their coach Adrian Finan is taking nothing for granted: "This year's hurling championships have turned up some strange results and it's when you are expected to win that something goes wrong.
"Provided Galway beat Cork in the other semi-final it would be nice to get another crack off them, but we cannot afford to look beyond Antrim.
"Fortunately most of our squad were in with the seniors and the training and coaching will be a huge benefit to the lads.
"This grade is our last chance to salvage something from a season that has not been very kind to us.
"I'll be looking to win this game early and not allow Antrim any chance to cause an upset," he said.
