Kilkenny Minor hurlers face Galway in Leinster opener

The Kilkenny minor hurlers will become the last of the county teams to taste championship action when they entertain Galway in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday.

The group-stage clash is the first of three matches for Niall Bergin’s team with further games to come against Wexford (away) and Dublin (home) on successive weekends.

The top two in the group will advance directly to a semi-final while the quarter-finals will consist of the bottom two as well as the tier 2 qualifiers so there will be plenty of opportunity for players to impress in the upcoming games.

Bergin is entering his third season as manager of the team and he admits that preparation has gone well.

“We’ve done a lot of work with the lads over the last few months and we had seven challenge games in total.

“The panel is mostly new with just our captain Bill McDermott available from the starters last year as well as a few subs and we’ve a huge amount of under 16’s involved too and we just can’t wait to get going now.”

This year’s structure has seen a slight change where beaten Leinster semi-finalists will also advance to the All-Ireland series so there’s the potential for plenty of games in the coming weeks.

While they want to win games, the O’Loughlin Gaels man knows there’s a bigger picture at this level.

“The grade is all about development and lads develop at different ages so we are very conscious of that as a management.

“In terms of our long-term goal, whether it’s Tom Hogan with the Celtic Challenge side, the under-16s or whoever, our goal is to get players through at underage level that can go on to better things at under 20 and senior in the years to come.”

On the subject of development, the minor boss also had huge praise for the ongoing under 19 development league which sees Kilkenny take on Dublin in the final on Thursday evening.

“I think it’s a big positive and I’d like to see more counties get involved and fair play to Kilkenny and Mark Aylward and his management team for looking after the group and doing such a good job with them.

“It’s great to see four Leinster teams involved and I see it myself, there’s a three year gap from under 17 to under 20 and it’s hugely important that it’s managed properly as development shouldn’t happen in fits and starts at underage level.

“It’s massive that we have more players in those three grades in the Kilkenny GAA system and being given an opportunity to represent the county.

“I think it’s great and hopefully more counties will also get involved in the coming years too.”

Galway are Kilkenny’s first opponents in the minor and based on last year where they defeated the Cats on two occasions including a Leinster Final, it’s a tough beginning to the championship.

“Galway are a strong side and they were very strong last year.

“I know they lost out in an All-Ireland Final which was maybe a surprise result in many ways but they do have an overlap from last year and over the last few seasons we haven’t seen a weak Galway team at minor level.

“We are looking forward to the challenge and I don’t think Kilkenny have beaten any Galway team at minor level since maybe 2010 so we’d like to be there or thereabouts and we’d hope to be very competitive on Saturday and we’ll be going out to win the game,” the manager continued.

Kilkenny Minor Hurling Squad: Bill McDermott (James Stephens, Captain), Mikey Rohan (Carrickshock), Conor Heffernan (James Stephens), Jake Connery (Erin’s Own), Padraig Joyce (James Stephens), Eoghan Cahill (Graigue Ballycallan), Conor McEvoy (James Stephens), Daniel McCormack (O’Loughlin Gaels), Larry Phelan (James Stephens), David Barcoe (Clara), Diarmuid Behan (James Stephens), Louis Raggett (Dicksboro), James Bergin (James Stephens), Jack Dollard (Glenmore), Kevin Buggy (Erin’s Own), Robbie Doherty (Mooncoin), Bobby Brennan (Erin’s Own), Ollie O’Donovan (John Lockes), Josh Dowling (Erin’s Own), Killian Ryan (Shamrocks), Eoin Brennan (Erin’s Own), Cian Donnelly (St Lachtain’s), Cian Byrne (O’Loughlin Gaels), Patrick Lacey (Dicksboro), Conor Holohan (O’Loughlin Gaels), Oisin Henderson (Dicksboro), Jake Mullen (Shamrocks), Bill O’Shea (Dicksboro), Jason Cody (Glenmore), Anthony Clifford (Dicksboro), Donnchadh Hennessy (Dicksboro).

Management: Niall Bergin (O’Loughlin Gaels), John Dermody (Shamrocks), Paddy Hogan (Danesfort), Pat Robinson (Graigue Ballycallan).