It has certainly been a powerful week in the life of 24-year-old Carrickshock ace Richie Power, who backed up his 13-point haul for his club last Sunday with an OPEL-GPA Hurler of the Month award which he collected at a ceremony on Tuesday last in Dublin.
The ace forward was sublime as Carrickshock claimed a 1-20 to 1-15 win over former All-Ireland Club Champions James Stephens at Callan on Sunday.
“We were out in the first round of the Club Championship two weeks after the All-Ireland final and fair enough we had a couple of days to relax, but come the Wednesday or Thursday of that week we had to regroup and concentrate on the club scene,” he said.
“When you go back to your club you try and give 100 per cent and you try to give them as much as you possibly can.
“It’s great, this year that we are having a good run and hopefully it won’t end on Sunday week, but it’s like any game. There is never any championship easily won, especially in Kilkenny and it bodes well for two good semi-finals.”
In a keenly contested encounter, Carrickshock led by 0-12 to 0-11 at the interval, but took firm control in the second half.
The winners led by 1-20 to 0-15 late on, with an Eoin Larkin (1-2 ) goal mere consolation, while there was also a good display from David Walton (0-9 ) for the eventual losers.
“I don’t think many people gave us much of a chance going into the game last Sunday,” he said.
“We knew that if we hurled well that we would be in with a shout. Thankfully we got a performance on the day.
“It’s something that people have been saying that we have been threatening to do over the last couple of years, but we haven’t performed and we haven’t produced it.
“Thankfully on Sunday we did and we look forward now to a semi-final against Erin’s Own.”
The semi-final draw on Monday night revealed that pairing, with All-Ireland club champions Ballyhale Shamrocks paired against former Leinster Champions O’Loughlin Gaels.
Power is happy to have those clubs on the other side of the draw, but recognises how tough an opposition Erin’s Own will be.
“We are under no illusions as to the task ahead of us,” he said.
“We played Erin’s Own already this year in the league championship and they beat us. We had a full team out that night and so had they and it was a cracking game. It was real tough stuff.
“That’s the way Castlecomer play, they are a real tough team and they are very well able to hurl and take their scores. We are under no illusion as to what we will face in the semi-final.”
On a related note Carrickshock boss Brendan Fennelly has been appointed this week as the Laois senior hurling manager for 2011.
Power believes that the appointment will be a huge boost to hurling in the O’Moore County, and says that Laois will have an excellent manager at their disposal.
“His record speaks for itself and it’s nothing to be laughed at. He really has got the most out of us, only our second semi-final at senior level since we moved up,” he said.
“I’ve no doubt Brendan will do a fantastic job in Laois. It’s great that he was appointed this week. I’m sure he wanted to delve into the inter-county scene again.
“I’m sure he will do a fantastic job. I wish him all the best in it, but hopefully he won’t be finished with us too soon anyway.”
