UNDER-21 HURLING LEINSTER FINAL:DUBLIN'S ATTEMPTS to be christened the new force in hurling received a bloodied nose 12 months ago when the Kilkenny under-21s came to Parnell Park and reminded them of the traditional powers' abiding nature.
Nine of those who featured in that nine-point drubbing will step off the coach this evening. Same venue and the visitors will be aiming for a similar result.
Having Richie Hogan in your team makes everything possible. Colin Fennelly and John Mulhall also return from that domineering forward line, while Nicky Cleere is on the bench.
This time Dublin seem better equipped, and prepared, to survive the hurricane.
Liam Rushe’s emergence as a top-grade hurler is supplemented by other senior players in Oisín Gough, Simon Lambert and David Treacy.
Rory O’Carroll needs to be conspicuous at the heart of their defence having dropped off the senior football panel ahead of some summer travelling.
Rushe and Hogan promoted the match this week and the under-21 championship’s new website, breakingthrough.ie.
We appreciate the young Dublin man’s lack of diplomacy. When asked about Kilkenny’s commendable yet ruthless levels of physicality, Rushe highlighted a collective bias by referees.
“We’re just going to have to deal with it. If the ref is going to let them away with it, it means we might as well do it as bad and hopefully we’ll be let away with it as well.”
The raised eyebrows of Hogan were not transferred to his vocal cords when it was his turn. A household name by now if born in any other county, Hogan may finally break into Brian Cody’s XV before September, but for now he is the senior statesman at this grade.
Unique among the current Kilkenny hurlers, he cites Dublin as serious rivals, excluding the remarkable 1-10 he posted in last season’s whipping.
“I remember when I was minor in 2004 we won, in 2005 we lost. Then in 2006 under-21 we won. In 2007 Dublin obviously got to the under-21 All-Ireland final (Offaly beat Kilkenny) then last year we had a more convincing win but in all those (other) games it was no more than a puck of the ball between us.
“I suppose there was a little bit of experience that got us over the line a couple of years back but that’s not going to help us anymore. We are going to have to win it fair and square.”
Dublin must show their worth by denying Hogan’s forward line the oxygen to turn this into shooting practice. O’Carroll must cancel out the influence of his opposite number David Langton by ensuring Barry O’Rorke and Rushe get enough ball to respond to Kilkenny’s scoring bursts.
Dublin look a tidy bet at 7/4, but we advise against a hefty wager against a decent, if not epic- looking Kilkenny side.
We shall learn more about the depth of the city’s talent reservoir tonight; we already know all about the never-ending Kilkenny well. The latter to retain their cup and make it seven titles this century, but stout resistance is assured.
Kilkenny v Dublin
Parnell Park, 7.30pm Live on TG4
DUBLIN:F McGarry; G Kelly, M Quilty, O Gough; P Schutte, R O'Carroll, R Walsh; S Lambert, C Clinton; P Kelly, D Treacy, P Garbutt; D O'Connor, L Rush, B O'Rorke.
KILKENNY:C McGrath; P Murphy, P Nolan, C Fogarty; L Ryan, D Langton, M Walsh; M Kelly, L Ryan; C Fennelly, M Bergin, J Mulhall; R Hogan, JJ Farrell, J Nolan.
Referee:T Carroll (Offaly).
