Passions will be aroused for Leinster semi-final

YOU don't expect to be talking about Kilkenny/Wexford rivalry in mid-November, but the meeting of Young Irelands and Rathnure in the AIB Leinster club hurling championship semi-final in Wexford Park (2.30) tomorrow is guaranteed to arouse passions in both counties.

The game has added significance for DJ Carey, Charlie Carter and their team-mates on the Gowran side because after winning their first county title six years ago they were defeated by Rathnure.

Reports of yet another impressive display from Carey in the county final against Donamaggin may even tempt more people out of their homes at the time of the year when they look forward to relaxing indoors.

Carey's excellence that day was one of the big talking points. He was, according to his Kilkenny team-mate Carter, "flying it". Carter remembers that when they met Rathnure in the 1996-97 club championship, in Nowlan Park, the game was played on "a miserable cold day".

At the time, Young Irelands were in the midst of celebrating their breakthrough in Kilkenny and it would be accepted they didn't really do themselves justice.

The team is coached by John Brennan, a former club player who won an intermediate medal 10 years ago. Carter agrees he has been doing a good job. "Things have been going well with the club at the moment. You could say that we will be taking this game a bit more seriously than it was the last time. And the fact we will be going down to Wexford should make us even more focused."

Rathnure have been managed by Seamus Murphy for the last two years, after Dan Quigley gave up following their defeat by St Joseph's, Doora/Barefield in the 1999 All-Ireland final. It was a heavy defeat, which had a negative effect on the club over the next few seasons. "At that stage there were a lot of young players who had a lot of success at under-age level and were getting burned out. It all took its toll.

"In 1999, they got to the county final against St Martin's and were favourites to win it, but they went out of it easily. They picked it up a bit last year, but it was a poor campaign. Fatyhe Harriers put them out in the quarter-final and went on to win it."

Murphy took over the management at the start of the year, earlier than he had anticipated (because of his other involvements, having managed Wexford under-21s for the last two years. Rathnure need to step up on their form if they are to win. By his own admission, they weren't over-impressive against Naas in their opening game.

"We won in the end by eight points, but, we didn't play well and we made hard work of it,'' he added.

He missed the Kilkenny final because the same day Naas were in Wexford to play Buffers Alley in a challenge. So, he will depend on a TG4 tape of the game to fill him in.

However, with Carey and Carter spearheading the Gowran challenge, it's a fair bet that knows as much about the opposition as he will need to.