Castletown's fifth column will be crucial to battle

Paddy Kirwan is certainly not the first manager to cross a borderline and then end up plotting the downfall of his native county.

For Sunday's Leinster club hurling final, he will stand alongside Laois champions Castletown as they attempt to topple Offaly champions Birr.

Yet, Kirwan's case is certainly one of the most exceptional. He lives in Birr, he's played for Birr, and he has coached in Birr. He drives a taxi in Birr and his kids now play underage for Birr. And the truth is that he knows all the Birr hurlers far better than he knows any of the Castletown hurlers.

"Ah, sure the crack has been good about it," he says. "Of course, it's a little awkward, and I know all those Birr players very well. And I would have played alongside the likes of Johnny Pilkington and Joe Errity in the past."

This situation, of course, could just as equally benefit Castletown. If someone knows a team that well then they'll know their weaknesses as well as their strengths, and though Birr have the stronger reputation, Kirwan will be out to use his insight.

Not that Birr will be strangers to Castletown. Sunday's date in Nowlan Park will be their fourth Leinster championship meeting of the last five years. Birr beat them in the finals of 1997 and 1999, before Castletown upset them last year with a five-point win in the quarter-final. After that, Graigue-Ballycallan got the better of them.

"Birr has been the acid test for every club for a while now," adds Kirwan. "The win last year was a surprise, but actually the Offaly championship was still at the quarter-final stage by then and Birr were probably not as sharp as they would have liked.

"But I would say that Castletown are a stronger side this year, and a little more mature."

Kirwan, who was an All-Ireland winner with Offaly back in 1981, only started with Castletown last June when the club was en route to it's third straight county title. His coaching reputation was built on the minor and under-21 success with Offaly, and Castletown decided that he would be the ideal man to fill the recent vacancy.

"Castletown is just your typical club side. For sheer commitment you won't get any better, and they're all ready to fall back on each other if need be. You know you can count on every player on the day. Obviously, the key men in there are David Cuddy and Cyril Cuddy, and the two Phelans are very important to us as well. But they're all equally committed."

Kirwan's only slight worry has been the schedule: "We were waiting around for a good while for our first-round game. Now we're into the final a week after the Faythe Harriers game (which they won by five points) and that's not ideal, but sure we'll just have to get on with it. "

With the team due to start unchanged, it means that 17-year-old James Hoban, who came on late last Sunday to score a crucial 1-1, will once again start on the bench.

Pat Delaney, the former Offaly centre back, was last night appointed as new Laois hurling manager at a county board meeting in Portlaoise. He takes over from Sean Cuddy, who stepped down last week.

Elsewhere, Denis Cahill has been appointed as manager to Antrim's senior hurlers.