'It was a great moment lifting that trophy for the whole of Kilkenny' - Moylan remembers U20 glory as new season begins

Former All-Ireland winning captain with Kilkenny, Padraic Moylan (Dicksboro), has described winning the U20 All-Ireland as 'every young lads dream' as the 2025 squad prepares for a new season of hurling at the grade, beginning this weekend.

It’s an early start for Kilkenny hurling supporters on Saturday as Mark Dowling’s under-20 team make the trip to Chadwicks Wexford Park to take on Wexford (12.30pm) in a difficult beginning to the Leinster Championship.

The Cats will then face Dublin in UPMC Nowlan Park a week later and regardless of the two results, they will advance to the knockout stages with first place into a semi-final, second place into a quarter-final and the bottom spot in the group assuring them of a preliminary quarter-final tie. 

LISTEN: Kilkenny managers Mark Dowling (U20) and Niall Bergin (Minor) preview the season ahead 

Rewinding the clock back to 2022 and the Cats were 0-19 to 0-18 final winners over Limerick in a ding-dong battle in Semple Stadium, Thurles and in November of last year, captain on the day, Padraic Moylan, who was named on the Rising Stars Hurling Team of the Year just this week, sat down with the podcast to look back on the county's memorable 2022 campaign.

"It's every young lads dream growing up, obviously the senior is the main stage but U20 is a step on. As the game (the final) went on, it was impossible to call," he recalled.

"It was point for point all game and we were lucky to get out the other side of it but it was a great moment lifting that trophy for the whole of Kilkenny."

"(Through underage) we were always a written off team, I remember one moment in the Tony Forristal Semi-Final, we played Cork and we lost by 14/15 points but fast-forward a couple of years later and we're going toe to toe with some of the best U20 teams in the country," the Dicksboro clubman told the Kilkenny People Sport Podcast.

"It was all talk about Limerick and who they had and other teams as well," he noted, recalling tough battles and big expectations surrounding Cork and Galway that year too..

"I think the game against Galway in the semi-final of Leinster was probably one of the best games I hurled in in my life to be honest and to get over that hurdle but also to prepare for a Leinster Final against Wexford a week after and trying to get the lads mentally prepared again was a big task," he added.

LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW ALONGSIDE CIAN KENNY BELOW: