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The Galway senior hurlers will travel to Thurles on Sunday (2pm) to take on a panel of Tipperary players that will be hurting from last Sunday's embarrassing 2-20 to 0-14 defeat to Dublin in Parnell Park.

I cannot recall being as happy for a young bunch of players as I was last Saturday afternoon in Breaffy. Castlebar Mitchels u15s beat their local football rivals, Breaffy, in a pulsating encounter and in dreadful weather conditions. Most of the lads from both teams are great friends as many of them attend either St Gerald’s or Davitt College and play school football together. Winning this particular title was huge as the bragging rights would be of enormous importance when they returned to school after their mid-term break. Breaffy have several classy players at this level, testament to their solid work over the last number of years developing their underage structure, and they gave their all over the 60 minutes. But it was the Mitchels who deservedly prevailed on this occasion. They led from gun to tape and doggedly held on to the end for a magnificent victory. While reluctant to highlight individual performances at this level, Mitchels’ team captain, Rhyne Collins, was a tower of strength at no 6 and his 80 metre run from deep in his own back line in the closing minutes to lay on a match winning goal was truly inspiring. It reminded me of a young James Nallen in his heyday. I am absolutely convinced that many on view last Saturday will don the Green and Red in the very near future.

Henry Shefflin has remained at home in Kilkenny this week, as his fellow All-Star hurlers departed on a trip to sunny California.

Tipperary senior hurling manager Declan Ryan won his first All-Ireland medal playing midfield with Thomastown Vocational School (Grennan College).

It's amazing what a week can do in sport.

The greatest challenge for the manager of any team is to ensure that your squad maximises its potential and hits the sweet spot on the biggest day. That might mean at some stage in a season recognising that the team’s best performance just wasn’t good enough, and as a manager you have to accept that too. But as any sports person recognises there is no better feeling in the world than the winning feeling experienced at the conclusion of a performance where everything has gone brilliantly to plan.

Last Sunday’s classic quarter final clash between Tipperary and Galway enhanced the notion that the real hurling doesn't swing into action until all the back doors have been closed. This is the game we have been waiting for to finally ignite the year.