Dublin lesson gave Cats fresh motivation

Knives sharpened, the critics emerged in their droves from the long grass.

Kilkenny hurling folk never took too kindly to defeat, but one of this nature was simply not acceptable. An 11-point whipping on home soil. Only 0-3 registered, two scorers over the hour and a single white flag raised from open play.

Granted, the Dubs have made massive strides as far as underage hurling is concerned in recent years, but such a hammering, particularly when played out on the turf of Nowlan Park, demands an explanation.

Fair to add that the match report doing the rounds in Monday’s papers garnered quite the readership, a second glance at the scoreline (2-8 to 0-3) required in most cases.

The events of April 27 didn’t sit too well with Kilkenny minor manager Pat Hoban.

“Heads were turned by that result and most of the heads turning were in our own county. That result did not go down well,” says the Mullinavat man. “On the day things could have gone better. We as a management team learned from it, as did the players. We had to.”

Adding to the frustration of the management team, the players and, indeed, the Kilkenny hurling public was that three weeks earlier St Kieran’s had returned the Croke Cup to the Marble County, defeating Kilkenny CBS in the process. Moreover, the decider had been played in Nowlan Park, underage hurling in the county had never been stronger.

Seven members of Hoban’s starting team against Dublin had been involved in said schools final. How had it come to this?

“We have no excuses. I could offer you reasons, but on the day we just weren’t good enough.

“Obviously the involvement of both schools in the latter stages of the Croke Cup ate into our preparations but you are not going to complain. The lads were getting competitive hurling, they were winning and they were on a high. Schools is a priority at that time of year.

“For underage hurling in Kilkenny it was great to have both teams in the final. They are playing at the highest level. In Kilkenny the two main schools are situated in the city and that is where the vast majority of hurlers tend to go. We are lucky the bulk of hurling youngsters either go to St Kieran’s or Kilkenny CBS. They are playing together, they know each other. We didn’t have to worry about familiarity when bringing the lads in because they were all already friends.”

A fortnight on from the Dublin defeat, Carlow were crushed at Dr Cullen Park, the horse comfortably remounted.

“It was very easy pick the lads up. They wanted to atone for that result. It didn’t matter who we got next. On the day against Carlow things worked out well for us. It got us back into the Leinster semi and back on the horse really.

“A long road has been travelled, but a great one. It has been a tremendous journey. It has been a challenge because that was a tough, tough day in Nowlan Park. Thankfully the curb has been upward since. We are in an All-Ireland semi-final on Sunday, testament that we have learned and moved on from early set-backs.”

Waterford provide the opposition tomorrow and it was the Déise who halted Kilkenny’s progress at this very stage last summer.

“I was down at the Munster final and All-Ireland quarter-final. We have seen Waterford from afar and up close as we played them in a challenge back in May. They gave us a bit of a trimming in that game so we are familiar with them and how good they are.

“The danger with Waterford is their forwards. They have a really excellent front six – Colm Roche, Shane Bennett, Peter Hogan and Patrick Curran. Their half-forward line is very physical. Their movement is very good. You couldn’t really say they have a weakness in attack and the tallies they have been posting in testament to that. I think that is where the game will be won. We have a good forward line, they have a good forward line. Whatever defence can get on top and curb the opposition will be the winning team.

“We have a number of lads from last year and you hope the memories of getting beaten on All-Ireland semi-final day would spur them on. The minimum expectation with any Kilkenny team is to reach the All-Ireland final, we are no different. That has always been our aim, it never wavered in light of earlier results. We believe it can still be achieved.”