Kilkenny Minor Manager Niall Bergin praises team work rate after Galway demolition

Kilkenny minor hurling manager Niall Bergin was pleased to end Kilkenny’s 14 year hoodoo against Galway at minor level, hailing both his team’s work rate and performance after Saturday’s win over the Tribesmen in UPMC Nowlan Park.

However, the O’Loughlin Gaels clubman did admit he expects a trickier assignment if the sides are to meet again later in the championship.

“It’s fair to say it’s more than a monkey off the back anyway but look it’s been great, the players have been working very, very hard, they put in a huge effort today and look the performance was good, we have plenty of room for improvement that’s for sure but it’s just great to get up and running on dare I say it, a summer’s day where the pitch is actually dry,” Bergin said.

Despite an impressive opening round display, the minor boss is in no doubt he and his players will keep their feet rooted to the ground.

“It’s the first game, it’s hard to know where teams are at. We’re under no illusions, this is round robin stuff and when it comes to the actual knockout championship we’ll know where we are if we play Galway again,” Bergin stated.

Another pleasing aspect of this year’s panel is their versatility in the forwards according to Bergin.

“You’d like to think we can play a few different ways, direct as we have some big men but also we have some very good hurlers there whereby they can use the ball very well as well,” he remarked.

The Kilkenny manager is content with his panel and has credited everyone involved so far, including those who didn’t feature last Saturday.

“We used five subs and do you know it could be five different fellas the next day, we need everyone making an impact so look it’s very much the collective here,” Bergin added.

Wexford away in Wexford Park now awaits the Cats.

“It won’t be simple, that’s for sure, it’ll be another test for us but we’ll just see how the bodies are, we’ll recover and look forward to the week ahead.”