THE ALL-IRELAND focus in Kilkenny and Tipperary will be trained on the senior decider next month but August will also see players from both sides chasing a national hurling double.
Before the senior final on 18 August, rising stars in both camps will be involved in this weekend’s U20 semi-final ties.
Adrian Mullen may have missed the Leinster final but he will be a critical figure for DJ Carey’s Kilkenny side on Saturday in Portlaoise against Cork. Fresh from a superb performance in last Saturday’s senior tie in Croke Park, Mullen will aim to replicate the form that saw him land 0-4 in that game against Limerick.
Jake Morris came off the bench to hit the clinching point for the Tipperary senior side yesterday against Wexford, while also controversially seeing his late goal wiped out. He’ll be a central figure for Liam Cahill’s U20 team next Sunday with another meeting with Wexford on the cards, this time in Nowlan Park. It was Morris who struck home the late goal that grabbed a dramatic victory for Tipperary over Cork in the Munster final.
Senior boss Liam Sheedy has no qualms about the hectic schedule.
“These guys want to play hurling, they are fine hurlers and they find themselves in an All-Ireland semi-final.
“They’ll be anxious to go and get themselves into an All-Ireland final.
“Certainly I would feel that Jake benefited from the game last Tuesday night. It’s a big hectic week for them but sure we were all young lads, and when you’re a young lad all you want to do is play.”
While Mullen and Morris are the marquee names, they are not the solitary representatives juggling responsibilities with both squads. For Kilkenny there are three players – Michael Carey, Evan Shefflin and Niall Brassil – on Brian Cody’s full senior setup, who are pivotal members of the U21 team. None of that trio were on in the 26-man squad for Saturday’s game against Limerick.
On the Tipperary side Jerome Cahill was an unused senior sub on Sunday and is midfield on the U20 team, while Paddy Cadell, centre-back for the U20 side, is a member of the extended senior squad.
It’s not the first time that Tipperary and Kilkenny have been mounting a twin challenge at this time of year. Kilkenny did the double in 2008 with Paul Murphy, Colin Fennelly, TJ Reid and Richie Hogan part of that U21 success while Tipperary’s double in 2010 featured stars like Padraic, Patrick and Brendan Maher, James Barry, Noel McGrath and John O’Dwyer in that underage victory.
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