Bragging rights on the line as Kilkenny minors aim to get back on top
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Ten years is a famine in Kilkenny.
When John Walsh inspired the Cats to the 2014 All-Ireland minor hurling title, they moved two clear as the competition’s most successful ever county.
They haven’t won one since. The Kilkenny minors made it to finals in 2018, 2019 and 2020, losing all three to Galway.
In the meantime, Tipperary were victorious in 2016 and 2022, bringing them level with Kilkenny on 21 All-Ireland minor titles each.
Bragging rights, history, the Irish Press Cup, it’s all on the line this Saturday night in Nowlan Park.
Jackie Tyrrell posted a not-so-cryptic tweet on the day Cork knocked the Tipperary seniors out of the Munster championship this summer. ‘Summer = the hay saved and…’ he wrote, leaving the rest to the imagination.
Anybody living on the Kilkenny-Tipperary border will be able to tell you, imagination or no imagination, that the part he left out is ‘Tipp bet.’ The Tipperary-Kilkenny rivalry needs no further introduction only to note that the teams usually bring the best out of each other.
Kilkenny hockeyed Tipp in their last minor final meeting in 2002 and one of the big changes from then to now, as well as the move from u18 to u17, is that the minor All-Ireland no longer takes place as a curtain raiser to the senior final.
Some feel this is a sorely lost tradition but Richie Hogan explains why he feels the change has done the competition good.
“I think it’s no harm,” said the Kilkenny legend. “It gives the minor championships its own profile.
“First of all there are far more minor games on TV now than when I was playing and yes, while it was great to play in an occasion when you were the curtain raiser to a big championship game, and they should keep an open mind to that when it makes sense.
“But I think for minor to have its own profile is good. And I think it’s been a success as well. It takes a couple of years to bed it in but definitely with its own strong sponsor, its own strong broadcasting partner, I think it can have a very good platform itself.”
The Kilkenny minors didn’t have it all their own way in Leinster this year, losing twice in the group stages, to Wexford and Dublin respectively. But as Hogan touched on, there are a lot more games in the minor championship now and they found their groove at the right time, tanking Galway by 15 points in the Leinster semi-final before turning the tables on Dublin in the decider.
Adrian Mullen’s younger brother Jake has been an obvious star, scoring 4-52 to date, while captain and centre forward Bill McDermott has also been prolific. An interesting footnote to Saturday night’s game is that, should Kilkenny win, Bill would join his father James as an All-Ireland minor-winning captain.
Jack Dollard is the anchor in a defence packed with ferociously strong players. Hogan’s brother Paddy is a selector on the Kilkenny team alongside manager Niall Bergin. “My brother is a trainer and coach and Niall Bergin is also the Danesfort intermediate team manager, so I’ve kept a watchful eye on them.
“They did really well to win a really strong Leinster championship, it was a great Leinster championship to win” he reflects. “There are some brilliant young players on the team, and I can’t wait to see those guys coming through in four or five years' time.”
The 2014 win came against Limerick’s golden generation that included Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey and Seamus Flanagan amongst others. There’s no doubt that in Kilkenny this one, in front of their home crowd, with all that’s riding on it, would be just as sweet.