Young hoping it will be third time lucky

GIVEN all that he has won in his short inter-county career, it’s hard to believe that Killian Young has enjoyed no success at U21 level.

As a county minor, he won a Munster medal in 2004, before moving on to the U21 grade.

This is his third year competing at this level and, having lost in both the 2006 and 2007 championships at the first hurdle, to Cork and Clare respectively, the Renard youngster is hopeful this year will prove to be third-time lucky.

Killian made his senior debut against Tipperary in 2006 and went on to win Munster and All-Ireland honours.

He repeated that feat last year, playing a starring role at left-half back on the team that defeated Cork in both finals.

Last Saturday, he played a key role at centre-back as Kerry defeated Limerick in the Munster U21 championship to record their first win in the grade in three years.

He is now looking forward to leading his county to further honours.

However, for that to happen, Kerry must beat champions Cork in the semi-final next Saturday in Austin Stack Park, a game Young accepts is not going to be easy.

“Even though it wasn’t spoken about much in the lead up to the game, there was always the fear in the back of my mind that we could be beaten in the first round for the third year in a row,” said Killian.

“Things didn’t go too well for us in the first-half as they came at us in waves. The tactics of their forwards in playing well out from goal caught us on several occasions and they were full value for their half-time lead.

“However, once we got on top in the second-half, there was only one team in it and we won the game comfortably in the end. It’s hard to put a finger on it exactly as to why we have been struggling in this grade for the last couple of years.

“Kerry’s record in Munster is first class but, to be fair to the other counties, they have been putting in the work and are entitled to reap the rewards. We have no God-given right to be winning all the time and we are up there to be beaten.

“While the victory margin over Limerick was comfortable in the finish, more importantly it was a huge relief to have finally won a first round game. I know, and so do the rest of my team-mates, that our performance against Limerick would not be good enough against Cork.

“It’s been nine years since Kerry last beat Cork in this grade and with nine of last year’s squad available they will go into Saturday’s semi-final as favourites.”

To illustrate just how serious Kerry are about this grade this season, Young was not asked to travel to Castlebar for the senior game against Mayo, but Paul O’Connor and Kieran O’Leary did make the journey.

“We badly need to get back to winning U21 titles,” said the Renard man. “A huge effort has been put into this year’s team but there are no guarantees. Fortunately, we have managed to win the senior All-Ireland title two years in a row at a time when our U21 record has dipped. But that won’t always be the case. There is a need to have players coming through the grades to maintain the standards we set ourselves.”