ALL-IRELAND MH CHAMPIONSHIP:STRANGE AS it might sound, Dublin minor hurling manager John Murphy describes the prospect of making the All-Ireland final as "something of a poisoned chalice", and even if he doesn't exactly mean it, it's hard not to agree.
Because whoever does come through Sunday’s Dublin-Clare semi-final in Croke Park (throw-in 1.30pm) will face a Kilkenny team that fairly annihilated Galway last Sunday, and is already being talked about as one the greatest minor teams ever seen.
“Look, we’re certainly not looking beyond Sunday,” says Murphy.
“An All-Ireland final for a Dublin team would be a huge bonus, for the whole province really, so of course we’d love to be there. And to beat the Munster champions as well. We’ll take that, and whatever reward comes with it we’ll deal with in due course.”
Dublin have already had to deal with Kilkenny twice this year: in the first round of the Leinster championship (where they lost 2-13 to 0-9) and again in the Leinster final (where they lost 1-20 to 0-10).
Since then they’ve come through the quarter-final against Antrim to set up Sunday’s meeting with Clare, and for now that’s good enough for Murphy.
“We’d be happy enough with the way things have gone. This is our sixth championship match now, and at minor level that is quite unusual.
“We’ve been building up nicely all along, although the Leinster final was a bit of a setback, I don’t think we were as bad as some people made us out that day. And Kilkenny’s win last Sunday proves that they are indeed a fairly handy outfit.”
Still, the prospect of playing Kilkenny has to be in the back of the minds of both Dublin and Clare, and indeed Murphy was in Croke Park last Sunday to see them beat Galway 5-19 to 0-15.
“Obviously the system they have, and the club scene, is very competitive. When they come through to county level they’re very well prepared. But the bottom line is it’s the number one sport in the county. I know they’ve a small population, but they get the vast majority of youngsters playing hurling, and that’s a natural head start as well. But there’s a whole load of factors. But look Dublin beat them at under-21 level, so it is possible.”
In the meantime Murphy has announced an unchanged team for Sunday’s game, with three positional changes in the forwards, Ciarán Kilkenny moves to centre forward, Emmet Ó Conghaile moves to full forward, and Glenn Whelan reverts to the wing.
Cillian Moffat has recovered from ankle injury sustained during the Antrim game and team captain Robert Hardy has also recovered from a hamstring tear suffered during the first-round game against Kilkenny, and is named on the bench.
DUBLIN(MHC v Clare): E Dillon; C Murphy, E McKenna, S McClelland; C Moffat, D Sutcliffe, B Quinn; D Kelly, B McCarthy; G Whelan, C Kilkenny, F Heavey; C Costello, E Ó Conghaile, D Flood.
