Determined Holden takes tough road back to the top

It’s a career that has produced five All-Ireland titles between club and county but Joey Holden would be the first to admit it hasn’t run smoothly.

Dropped after minor and U21 Kilkenny trials, the 29-year-old knows the meaning of the word rejection. And just when he seemed on top of the world in 2015, having added an All-Star to a second Celtic Cross, along came the following year’s All-Ireland final when his marker Seamus Callanan fired over nine points from play.