HURLING’S WORLD order is aligning once again. There is a gaggle of young Cork men descending on Semple Stadium this Sunday for a league final devoid of any fear despite the looming spectre of Kilkenny.
Conor Lehane is the most impressive of this new Rebel wave. In the opening seconds of the regular season meeting he was obliterated by Michael Fennelly. Shoulder to face. A yellow card came out as the teenager dusted himself off and returned to the field. Welcome to senior hurling.
A multi-decorated Kilkenny midfielder attempted to break Lehane. He reacted beautifully.
“It wasn’t the nicest of feelings. But it was a fair challenge and I was kind of asking for it a small bit going down the line. All you can do is just get back up and drive on. You have to be prepared to take a few hits.
“It’s a tough game. You can’t just go in and play away. You have to be aware this kind of stuff will happen. It’s how you react to that which is important. I love everything about the game and the physicality of it is important.”
How does he handle someone like JJ Delaney landing on his shoulder before throw-in?
“You’re obviously aware of who you’re playing. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t. But you just try to concentrate on the game. It’s all about what you’re doing. But it’s all about doing the best that you can for the benefit of the team.”
Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s young team have lost their captain. Donal Óg Cusack’s ruptured Achilles tendon in the semi-final win over Tipperary means his only contribution this summer will be words.
“It is a small bit of a blow. We are very disappointed for him and he’d be disappointed himself but he’s be the first fella to remind you that it’s not about an individual it is all about the team and how the team performs and he’ll be there with us and it’s time for other people to realise it’s time to step up and drive it on now.
“I’d say he definitely will have a role still with the team, he is such a big personality and such a big part of Cork hurling over the last number of years.
“The message at half-time when he got injured was to drive on. It’s obviously disappointing but you have to stay concentrating on the game, stay concentrating on performing and Donal Óg would be the first guy to remind you of that and thankfully that’s what we did.”
Lehane was seven when Barry-Murphy led a pack of young rebels to All-Ireland glory but none of that matters this week. Nor does the presence of Fennelly or JJ.
“Our main goal is just to go out there and give it our best performance. We’re going out for the win and so are Kilkenny.
“It’s all about how we perform on the day. We’re not really concentrating on Tipperary and Kilkenny, we’re just focusing on ourselves.”
