Kilkenny go in pursuit of All-Ireland minor honours as they attempt to regain the All-Ireland lost last year; they play Tipperary in the decider next Sunday.
Since the Minor championship was upgraded to under-18 in 2006, Kilkenny have dominated, achieving the four-in-a-row back in 2009.
The period between 2005 and 2009 was a dominant period for Kilkenny camogie as, along with their four-in-a-row at minor level (under-18 ), they achieved four All-Irelands in succession between 2005 – the last year of the old minor grade – and 2008.
Also during that intervening period, St Brigid’s Callan achieved consecutive All-Ireland colleges titles in 2008 and 2009, while Loreto Kilkenny have dominated over the last years, winning four junior All-Irelands since 2007 – this year in 2011 they achieved three-in-a-row, while also in March the city school retained their All-Ireland Colleges senior A title with victory over St Patrick’s Maghera.
The Loreto school formed the backbone of the starting 15 in their comprehensive semi-final victory over Galway last Wednesday evening, with nine of the starting 15 forming the successful All-Ireland winning team including players such as senior panellists Grace Walsh, Noelle Maher, and Claire Phelan, with Loreto All-Ireland winning captain Aisling Curtis and star forward Aoife Murphy also key members of the Loreto contingent.
Kelly Hamilton and Megan Farrell were central to Grennan College’s success in winning the All-Ireland Colleges senior B title, while Jennifer Cunningham and Niamh Phelan were squad members of the St Brigid’s Callan outfit that retained their All-Ireland in 2009.
Look through the subs and there is a wealth of All-Ireland Colleges winners also.
Sarah Anne Quinlan and Emma Comerford were both members of the Loreto attack that played in Loreto’s All-Ireland victory last March, while Jane Cullen and Niamh Donnelly were star performers for Grennan College in their All-Ireland success.
In total 27 out of the 33-strong squad have won All-Ireland Colleges medals with their various schools.
The campaign began disappointingly for Kilkenny as they produced a poor display in losing to Clare, 1-9 to 0-8.
Kilkenny were short the services of five of their Inter-County senior panel on the evening, before easily destroying Derry a week later 6-12 to 0-0.
A semi-final showdown was set up with Galway in a repeat of last year’s semi-final which Galway won by a solitary point, 1-14 to 2-10.
Galway were warm favourites, as they featured a whole string of players from their last two under-16 All-Ireland winning teams along with last year’s minor winning team.
However, Kilkenny tore up the script in Nenagh last Wednesday night and, with the benefit of all their senior contingent, they easily accounted for the Westerners 3-16 to 3-9 in a superb team display.
Claire Phelan was magnificent at centre-forward, scoring 0-7 from play 0-7 (0-3 frees 0-1’45 ), while Aisling Curtis, Aoife Murphy and substitute Sarah-Anne Quinlan were goal-scorers in an excellent overall display.
Miriam Walsh who starred for the Kilkenny under-16s and was simply brilliant in their heart-aching one-point defeat to Tipperary, played a key role last Wednesday night, scoring three excellent points from play.
Overall it is a strong Kilkenny team with seven of their starting 15 against Galway under-age again next year, and at least nine of the remaining panel members eligible for minor in 2012.
The starting 15 next Sunday should, barring injuries, be expected to be the same starting line-up as at the Galway match.
However, Kilkenny will fear no one and a repeat of their semi-final display will be sufficient to land All-Ireland honours on Sunday.
