Cats won’t be caught off guard, warns Tyrrell

“THE Bob O’Keeffe Cup,” says Jackie Tyrrell, indicating the very impressive Leinster Senior Hurling Championship trophy on display nearby, “we have a lot of work to do before we can get our hands on it again, against Wexford this Sunday.

We’re looking forward to it. The Leinster final is a great occasion and we just can’t wait.”

As Kilkenny captain last year, Jackie got to lift that cup — it wasn’t the only silverware he hoisted as Kilkenny won the Walsh Cup, the National League, and finally the Liam MacCarthy.

Earlier on this year they retained the Walsh Cup, but then, in somewhat of an upset, lost their National League title to Waterford. Now it’s back to the Championship trail which takes them to Croke Park and Sunday’s decider with Wexford.

He’s an earnest kind of a chap, Jackie Tyrrell, and when he says, as he does, that this upcoming clash will be a serious test, he’s as earnest as he can be.

Just as earnestly, however, he will be hoping that it’s not, that it will be the one-sided cakewalk for Kilkenny that almost everyone is predicting. Reason for those pessimistic predictions? Of the last nine Leinster championships, Kilkenny have won eight; of the last 11 meetings between Kilkenny and Wexford in the Leinster final, Kilkenny have won 10. In the most recent meeting between the sides, the National League semi-final, Kilkenny destroyed Wexford, 2-22 to 2-7. Hardly the kind of stats to suggest that, unlike every Munster championship match to date, this one is going to be a battle.

“There’s no tougher than Wexford. They’re going to be hitting us hard, we’re going to be hitting them just as hard. The intensity will be there. I think it’s a misconception, that Munster hurling is better than Leinster.”

Not better, Jackie, just more competitive. Look at the record.

“I suppose, but look at Cork every time they come out of Munster — two All-Ireland titles in the last three years. There are two sides to that coin.”

The old battle-hardened argument us not very convincing. When he points out the progress being made at underage level, however, Dublin in the minor Leinster final, the same team joining Offaly in the U-21 decider, he’s on more solid ground; hopefully the senior scene will pick up again in the next few years. In the meantime, there is no sign of any such underage progress in Wexford. Their hopes Sunday will most likely be modest, especially given that they only barely scraped past Dublin in the semi-final thanks to an injury-time point from a long-distance free by Barry Lambert.

Counters Jackie: “I think it says more about Dublin. Look at the league and the huge strides Dublin made. Dublin have improved a lot this year, as have Wexford under John Meyler, improved immensely. That shows Leinster hurling is getting stronger.”

Dismiss also, says Jackie, their own 1-27 to 1-13 thrashing of Offaly, in their semi-final.

“Offaly were all over us in the first half and we were lucky to go in a point up at half-time. In the second half they ran out of steam. But the scoreline didn’t reflect the work Offaly did. We had a lot of things to work on after that, a lot of aspects of our game we weren’t happy with. Hopefully we’ve put them right for Sunday.”

And this is exactly why almost no-one gives Wexford any chance of causing an upset. Despite their record, despite all they’ve achieved there is never any question of resting on laurels, any question of taking things for granted. That is why Jackie talks up Wexford this weekend, why he and his team-mates look at a 14-point win and see the flaws in their performance. In Kilkenny, under Brian Cody, the next game is always the one that counts.

“It’s not just talk. It’s a Leinster title, a title we want, a medal at stake, and we’ll be driving full force for that. Success breeds success, and if we can get over Wexford that will give us the confidence to go on to bigger things. Every time you go out it could be the last time you play for Kilkenny so you want to be winning as much as possible. Inter-county careers are getting shorter, you want to win while you can. That’s the motto we have.”

With such an attitude, how can they lose? Strange things happen in sport. Kilkenny are weakened by the injury of corner forward Aidan Fogarty, man-of-the-match in last year’s All-Ireland win over Cork. There are doubts over midfielder Derek Lyng (ankle ligaments) and Richie Power (hamstring), though their strength in depth should compensate.

Wexford have upset the odds before, and under the powerful John Meyler, a Wexford native but an All-Ireland winner with Cork, they won’t lack drive and motivation. Still, you can’t help thinking; under Brian Cody, is there any team more driven, more focused, than the Cats? “I suppose everyone has their own different motivation techniques. You saw the scenes after Limerick won their game last Sunday, and that was just one championship round. That’s a reflection of the hunger they have. Waterford will also be hell-bent on winning the All-Ireland and Munster titles this year, so there’s huge competition out there. We’re gunning for an All-Ireland, that’s starting on Sunday, but I’m sure Wexford have the same aspirations as well.”