Schools GAA: Kilkenny hurling rivalry reaching a fresh peak

It’s not easy sharing a city with St Kieran’s College, the 19-time Dr Croke Cup champions command the bragging rights more often than not.

Last year’s Dr Croke Cup final was an all-Kilkenny affair between Kilkenny CBS and St Kieran’s, and although the latter came out on top it’s actually been pretty even between the two schools in recent years. That’s certainly not always been the case though.

In 2002 Kilkenny CBS reached a first senior Leinster colleges final in 11 years, and in 2006 they won a first provincial title at the grade in 23 years. Since then the school have appeared in six of the last eight provincial finals and four national finals. They are also reigning Leinster champions.

They are still 18 behind St Kieran’s on the list of All-Ireland title winners, and 44 behind their city rivals in the Leinster roll of honour. Yet in the past decade the school has improved remarkably and, according to their manager PJ McCormack, the gap which once existed between the two schools no longer exists.

Big breakthrough

McCormack, who has been a teacher in the school for 11 years and is now in his second stint coaching the senior team, believes the big breakthrough came with the Leinster championship success in 2006.

“That was the real breakthrough eight years ago, they had won the junior those lads, and been so strong all the way up” says McCormack. “A huge deal was made of that success even around the city, as we hadn’t been anywhere near it for many, many years. . that was definitely the start of turning it around. We just improved year-on-year from there.

“They was a good mix of country and town chaps together, the likes of Mark Kelly, Mark Bergin, Richie Doyle and Shane Maher were all about back then and they all went on to be involved with the county seniors.”

Yet creating a conveyor belt of intercounty stars, a benchmark of other ‘hurling nurseries’, hasn’t necessarily been a stated aim for CBS.

No doubt given their students’ exposure to top level schools ‘A’ hurling there’s bound to be a Richie Power, Richie Hogan or even Henry Shefflin (all St Kieran’s College past pupils) within the ranks, but the emphasis within the college is to develop an overall team.

“We would have always had in the school some very good individuals but we wouldn’t be able to fill the corners and wings. The success has brought more lads in but the focus here now is for every chap when they come into first year, that they improve every year. As long as I’ve been involved anyway, we haven’t won an under-14, yet our senior record speaks for itself.

“These lads might overshadow the big names by the time they’re at senior level. When lads come into our school they all get the chance to get a fair crack at it. We have about seven teachers covering the under-14 spectrum so there’s matches for everyone and plenty of training time. The current Kilkenny under-16 captain couldn’t make the first year’s A panel for the first six months of the year. He came in then and spoke to our current first years about it, there’s great character there.

“You can’t beat a chap who knows where he was when he came in, the level he was at, that he grinded the whole way along and then he’s at senior level. We nourish the players and they appreciate it when they’re at senior and playing these big games.”

The strides

CBS defeated St Kieran’s by six points in the 2014 Leinster final and it’s not their first time to have got one over on their rivals in recent years. The school can now also twin their successful development structures with the ever-increasing influx of talented hurlers choosing to enrol in the school.

“I didn’t fully realise the rivalry here between us and Kieran’s before I came, but the tradition that’s now in both schools is great.

“There are some clubs we tend to get most from, and there would have always been a couple of surprises, but the clubs are kind of split now between us. There’s now ‘another school’ there for these lads and we are getting a lot more players wanting to come here.

“Every lad in Kilkenny walks around with a hurl nearly, they love it, and the feeder clubs are going well. The clubs around the city are winning everything and they’re getting huge numbers, and the parents too are integral, so it’s made a lot easier for the schools when they get here.

“Last year we had five on the county minor panel, next year I expect more as four of them are still underage. The year before last we had seven on the county minor team. I think there’ll be more CBS players on the intercounty senior team in the coming years.”

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