Dicksboro’s youth policy paying off

It was coming.

At least that’s what they told Dicksboro.

With three minors and two U21s titles over the last six years, it mightn’t have been inevitable but certainly the chances of the club making an impact at senior level had increased.

Yet they go into tomorrow’s final, their first since 1994, underdogs, perhaps more so than they were when they surprised St Martin’s and then James Stephens last day out.

Even if they are giant killers, the reasons are clear. When their opponents Ballyhale Shamrocks won an All-Ireland senior title two years ago, Dicksboro were intermediate. Last year was the first season back at senior level and they are green when it comes to a game like this.

“We’ve 10 or 11 players under 23, we’ve eight U21s and two are 17-year-olds,” said Dickboro manager Ger Henderson.

“The oldest is maybe 27 so the average age is probably around 22 or 23.”

The slightly ignorant view on Dickboro’s progress this year would point to the fact Cillian Buckley was their only player on Kilkenny’s All-Ireland panel during their elongated championship and with more players available to them. But Henderson points out: “We had four guys on the Kilkenny U21 panel so we didn’t have excess to them during the year either.

“Obviously, Kilkenny reached the U21 final in September so we didn’t see them as much as we would have liked. As regards senior inter-county we only had one player and it is probably an advantage sometimes not to have so many players involved for your club’s sake.

“But it’s only with the games coming thick and fast we’ve found form. We had a poor league campaign, which is very disjointed in Kilkenny because of Kilkenny’s success and the drawn final. We found it hard to get momentum going in the league but once the championship started things improved. We had a good win against Dunnamaggin and then beat St Martin’s and James Stephens.”

A culture of winning has developed in the club with the aforementioned county minor and U21 triumphs not to mention this year’s U14 championship and an U14 Feile na Gael three years ago. With two teams represented at each grade from U14 to U21, a conveyor belt has been created with Buckley the first off the line at senior inter-county level, their first Celtic Cross recipient since goalkeeper Michael Walsh in 1992. But just how daunting will tomorrow be against a team boasting the likes of Henry Shefflin and James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick?

“The talent in our squad is fantastic and that has been done at underage level. Like most clubs, we’re starting at U6 and they’re getting great coaching all the way up. It’s all about the ball, skillwork and focusing on that at that level.”