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.