All three Kilkenny county champions negotiated their first round Leinster Championship matches last weekend, junior champion's Tullogher Rosbercon got the ball rolling in the best possible way by beating St Peregrines/Trinity Gael's of Dublin by 6 points in O'Toole Park on Saturday. Sunday saw Nowlan Park play host to a double header, intermediate champion’s Erin’s Own of Castlecomer pitted themselves against Carlow senior winners, Naomh Bríd of Old Leighlin. This game went down to the wire. The Comer men eventually came out on top by 2 points in what was described as a cracking game. The Old Leighlin men are very passionate about their hurling, they went to war last Sunday without their veteran centre back and former county and Leinster star, Johnny Nevin, who was away in Australia on over 40s duty. Nevin may be getting on, but by all accounts he still has the drive and passion to compete at the highest level. Comer's cause was helped in the first half by goals from Davy Buggy and Jimmy Byrne, they had to withstand a lot of pressure in the second half before coming out on top. Their next hurdle is Blackwater of Wexford.
The Shamrocks marched on to the semi-final clash with Raharney of Westmeath when they saw off Laois champions Rathdowney/Errill. We all know the Shamrocks are a class act, but at present for some reason they seem to be having momentary lapses in concentration, they go from being the slickest side to, (I'll say it quietly ), being an ordinary side. It's a dangerous game to be playing but one can only assume that this won't happen when the anti is upped. There is a bit of talk going around the county that they'd like to get a crack at Birr, this may well be true but they can't afford to take the Westmeath champions for granted. Hurling is very much alive and well in the midlands, remember 12 months ago our intermediate champions Clara, were overturned by a side from this county. Anyway for what it’s worth, I think Ballyboden/St Enda's might get the better of the Offaly men this coming weekend.
It's familiar territory for the Ballyhale crew but for the Tullogher and Comer men it's a truly exciting venture. We've seen over the last couple of years the excitement that is generated by these competitions. Dicksboro, Danesfort, and Conahy have all captured All-Ireland titles in recent years. The pride of representing the county and the ultimate reward of playing in Croke Park on All-Ireland Day, or night, as it was in Conahy's case last year, is what will keep these club hurlers training when others are sitting up in front of the fire on a cold, wet night. All three clubs will no doubt be doing their damnedest to keep Kilkenny's great record going this year. The winter months can often be long and depressing, but the time will fly for these three parishes if they can get an extended run, here's hoping.
When the All-Star were announced a few week's back, there was no major surprise with the selection. Every one of the nine Kilkenny representatives were seen as shoe ins, the only player to miss out from my selection was Waterford's John Mullane, Cork's Ben O'Connor I felt edged him out. Well the Opel GPA were ratified this week and just to rubber-stamp Kilkenny's brilliant year, the same nine Kilkenny names were among the players honoured. This year's GPA team of the year is almost a mirror image of the All-Star selection, except this time, Mullane gets in ahead of boy-wonder Joe Canning. Mullane deserves his accolade as he had a super year and really came to the fore when Waterford were hurling poorly during games against Clare and Kilkenny, when his teammates went missing, John was still giving his all. His attiude which has often been called into question over the years, seemed to be spot on this year. It will also be a major surprise if Eoin Larkin doesn't add the GPA Player of the Year award to his All-Star equivalent.
Kilkenny players were very much to the fore in Leinster's fine victory over Munster in last Saturdays night's Railway Cup final played at Portlaoise. In all, eleven Kilkenny players saw action and between them they accounted for 1-14 of the 1-15 tally. This competition has struggled over the last 20 years or so, but due to the player’s appetite it has lingered on. It's still seen by the players as a huge honour to wear the green jersey of Leinster. The pictures on Monday's daily papers of Captain Tommy Walsh receiving the Cup just shows what it meant to him, let alone what it must mean to players from Dublin, Carlow, Laois and Westmeath. This competition should be retained but also moved to a spring slot when fans, just as the players, are fresh and hungry for action.
