Kilkenny Minors not affected by lay-off

Kilkenny minor hurling manager Pat Hoban doesn’t believe his team will be hindered by their five-week lay-off in today’s All- Ireland semi-final against Galway.

The All-Ireland champions have been devoid of competitive action since the Leinster final win over Dublin on July 5 and Hoban says they have followed the lead of Brian Cody’s outfit in dealing with the long break.

“In managing the lay-off we followed the same template as the seniors in that the players went back to their clubs the week after the Leinster final. They would have had senior championship and then two rounds of the minor league. We have had them for the last three weeks so when you break that into actual training sessions it is manageable.

“We have picked up a few challenge games along the way as well,” he explained.

The Cats reeled off the last four points in the provincial decider against Dublin to win by 1-17 to 1-15 and Hoban has been pleased by the team’s character in their three championship outings.

“We won it at the bitter end. They showed great grit, character and resolve to get over the line. We went out of the game for long periods of the second-half and Dublin took over. We found it very hard to get scores during that time so that is obviously something we needed to work on. It was great the way we finished, though. This team showed the same kind of character when we were two down to Wexford going into injury-time at Wexford Park in the opening round. We were chasing that game as well. The lads managed to get back level and force extra-time. That win was a springboard. We wanted to win our first round. Losing would have put us into a backdoor against Dublin. We didn’t want that. The backdoor served us well last year and we were delighted at the time to get a second chance. This year we wanted to drive on (the main route).”

There are three survivors from last year’s team – Tommy Walsh, Cathal McGrath and Darragh Joyce – and the manager pointed out that St Kierans’ All-Ireland success didn’t necessarily mean an easy task in re-stocking the panel.

“The midfield and all the forwards moved on which is a big area to replace. I am not going to deny we have a big pool, but you take St Kieran’s for instance. That senior competition was U18 and a half. There were only three starters on their team eligible for minor.”

On the challenge of Galway, he added: “I was very impressed with their showing in Thurles. Limerick had turned over Cork who would have been favourites in many people’s book. What Galway did on a wet day in tough conditions was very impressive. They play to a system and they play to it well. That was their first game so I expect them to improve greatly from that.”