Star Joyce caps year to remember
Along with his Kilkenny team-mates, he completed the league-Leinster-All-Ireland set on top of Rower-Inistioge’s considerable All-Ireland intermediate title in February.
Looking back on it, being away from the inter-county set-up to help seal that club victory hindered his prospects. An All Star nomination last year, his only start in a black and amber jersey this championship prior to Saturday was the drawn Leinster semi-final against Galway in June. Aside from that, all he had was a substitute’s appearance in the facile win over Offaly.
“I didn’t come back in the shape I should have,” he admitted. “A lot of lads had pre-season training done and they were in fantastic shape at the start of the year. I was finding it hard to get my spot. All you can do is keep hurling all year.
“Go in every training session trying to nail your spot for the last couple of games. Lads did nothing wrong, played great all year. Unlucky for Joe [Holden] and Brian [Hogan] this day but that is the nature of sport. Padraig [Walsh] came in and he was outstanding. I played a certain part of it. Everyone wants to start in the final.
“With the club it is very special but this is different as well. You spend eight or nine months at the end of it. They are practically family at the end of it. It’s very special. If that free had gone over it we wouldn’t be here so that’s the margins between us.”
He never mentioned to management he had marked Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher when lining out for AIB against the Defence Forces in tournament games.
“They might have known, might not have. Lads said they would take certain players and that was how this worked out.
“He’s had a fantastic year, he is a big, strong lad. I have marked him a couple of times and he gives everything. He’s a great man to run on to ball and he got a few of them.
“About a week ago we knew who we were going to be marking. Had about a week to get your head around what you do. You would watch the game yourself and try to pick up a few hints on what way he attacks and what way he goes. There is a small bit of research. You can’t over-research either. A lot of it is instinct. You just have to get out and go for it.”
On Saturday, Joyce’s younger brother Darragh, captain of Kilkenny’s All-Ireland-winning minors, watched on from Hill 16 with his team-mates. He would have seen his sibling fetch some excellent ball while sticking to Maher like a leech.
“We tried to neutralise the space,” said Joyce. “They are great to run on to loose ball and they have a couple of dynamite forwards who are able to do magic stuff once they get the ball in their hand, so our job was to neutralise that and stop their puck-outs to an extent.”
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