Martin Keoghan insists Cats must make Nowlan Park a fortress

Kilkenny’s Martin Keoghan in action against Cork. Pic: Bryan Keane/Inpho

The All-Star award on the mantelpiece growing up was a constant reminder for Martin Keoghan of what he could potentially achieve with Kilkenny.

The trophy is still there and belongs to his Dad, Liam, presented in 1997, though the All-Ireland medal that the former Kilkenny defender won in 1993 is safely stashed under lock and key.

Liam Keoghan also has a county championship medal, from Tullaroan's 1994 win, all of which his son aspires to emulate.

Martin is 26 now and an established Kilkenny forward and hoping that, very shortly, the really good times will start to roll for him like they did for his Dad.

The Tullaroan forward is arguably Kilkenny's form player right now, starting their four league games this season and registering 2-13 ahead of Sunday's fifth outing against Tipperary.

"I do think we are there or thereabouts," said Keoghan of Kilkenny's All-Ireland credentials and his personal bid to match his Dad's achievement. "It's about being able to produce it on the day then to get us over the line. We do have a bit of improvement to go, you've seen a few of our league games at this stage, we're not the finished article yet at all."

Sunday's visit of Tipp to UPMC Nowlan Park is a significant fixture. 

Kilkenny have already lost two Division 1A games so another defeat will leave them battling relegation, with an outstanding tie against Limerick still to come. 

Win, however, and they will have hauled themselves into title contention.

From Keoghan's perspective, establishing their home venue as a fortress is important, particularly after losing to Galway there last month.

"We probably need to make it more of a fortress because home matches are so important," said the school teacher. "Come the Championship round-robin format, you really need to be making the most of the home matches. Our last home match in the league, against Galway, we probably let ourselves down a bit. But we have a couple of great opportunities now, against Tipp and then against Limerick. We really need to put huge emphasis on them."

Keoghan is one of 31 different Kilkenny players to have featured so far in the league, veteran icon TJ Reid the latest after his return in last weekend's loss to Cork.

Establishing a central spine has been a challenge for Lyng but he appears to be settling on Mikey Carey at centre-back. Keoghan noted that Richie Reid, still to return, could do a job there too, as could David Blanchfield or newcomer Fionan Mackessy.

Jordan Molloy has been a find at midfield, a player Keoghan described as 'one of the best club hurlers in Kilkenny the last few years...a very, very tigerish hurler'. He started against Cork next to Killian Doyle.

But is there a danger of hitting the Championship with a team still in transition?

"I don't think you can play the same 15 every single week," argued Keoghan. "So having a big panel of players and giving that experience of playing a lot of league matches, getting the experience of playing these big matches, it's hopefully going to stand to us later on in the Championship."

The Tipp fixture will give Lyng an insight into who he can really rely upon in the Championship.

"The rivalry is definitely still there," said Keoghan. "For me, living in Tullaroan, it's only a few minutes away from the border with Tipp. It's definitely still strong. Even when I'm teaching in Callan, we have a good few Tipp students in the school, coming in from Mullinahone."

The tie may come too soon for captain John Donnelly and Ballyhale duo Richie Reid and Adrian Mullen though. They haven't featured yet this year.

"It'll probably be another few weeks but they're getting there," assured Keoghan. "The ground at the moment is tough work, so injuries are bound to happen. Injuries are going to be a given really."