Preview- Kilkenny under-20s travel to Wexford for Leinster opener
Long Road Ahead: The Cats will be looking to kickstart their campaign with victory on Saturday
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.
All that means the side in Black and Amber won’t have to be at their peak for a number of weeks, but Dowling and his squad are eager to get going with the Dicksboro man entering his third year in charge of the side.
“It feels like a long time since our Leinster semi-final defeat to Offaly last year,” he said. “We were disappointed at the way the championship ended for us but we’ve moved on and we have a new group pf players. They are looking forward to taking to the field on Saturday.”
Among the players on the 36-strong squad are Marty Murphy (Tullogher Rosbercon), Jeff Neary (Graigue-Ballycallan), Darragh Vereker (Glenmore) and Eoghan Lyng (Rower-Inistioge) with the quartet also part of the extended senior squad. James Stephens lead the way number-wise with six players named on the final panel of which include goalkeepers Billy O’Sullivan and Daniel Power.
While there is a bit of turnover from the 2024 team, it’s still a hugely experienced panel of players with 19 hurlers still available from last year’s squad.
“We’ve been lucky enough this year in the fact that we don’t have too many lads that would have played schools hurling but a number of the players have been involved with colleges and the Kilkenny senior squad so communication between the different managers is really important,” Dowling added when talking about the squad.
The Cats go into this year’s campaign on the back of losing out in the previous two Leinster semi-finals to Wexford and Offaly.
While they were competitive on both occasions, ultimately they fell short. Kilkenny topped the round-robin table on both occasions but had the disadvantage of a five-week spell of inactivity as a result - it can be argued that it contributed to the results.
The championship schedule runs along similar lines this term and while Dowling admits it isn’t ideal, it’s not something they can dwell on too much either.
“It probably is a bit of a disadvantage and the results we’ve had would tell you that,” he said, “ but we won’t change how we go about preparing for the round-robin games as we just want to try and keep winning.
“There’s an argument that playing in a preliminary quarter-final or a quarter-final helps you gain momentum through the competition but it’s also difficult if you get a couple of injuries so it’s a careful balancing act really.”
In an overall context, the Dicksboro man is hopeful for the future of Kilkenny hurling as he sees plenty of talent coming through the underage ranks but, despite being the manager of the under-20 side, he feels the old under-18 and under-21 system was more ideal.
“The grades flowed a little better back then and I feel that it’s a better option than what we currently have,” he said.
“I know that’s just my opinion, but it seemed to suit the players better and there was more lads then making the breakthrough onto the senior squad than what’s happening now,” he added. “It’s why the under-20 grade is so crucial now as it’s more of a stepping stone.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, Dowling is hoping to see his players hit the ground running.
“We’ve played Wexford and Dublin in recent seasons and they’ve always been tough games. We aren’t expecting anything different this time around and even across the country I think you could nearly throw a blanket over a number of counties as there’s very little between a number of teams.”