Kilkenny determined to maintain winning feeling

Under-21 Hurling All-Ireland Final/Kilkenny v Tipperary: Ask 10 mildly serious hurling minds who should win here and chances are nine of them will say Kilkenny. And you'd still be wondering what's up with the other guy.

That's almost insulting to Tipperary's chances, but, no matter how you approach this game, Kilkenny appear to have the edge.

Ironically, last Sunday's two other hurling finals in Croke Park ended with the two more fancied teams being beaten. Tipperary weren't widely expected to end Galway's quest for the three-in-a-row minor success and yet they did, emphatically, and likewise with Kilkenny, who ended Cork's quest for a similar run at senior level.

It's just so much harder to see the under-21 final produce a similar upset. Kilkenny are chasing their third title in this grade in four years, having being surprised last year by Galway.

That lesson will stand to them when it comes to handling the mantle of favourites (eight of that team are back), but Kilkenny's greatest asset here is good, old-fashioned talent.

They boast seven members of last Sunday's senior winning panel - including three central players John Tennyson, Richie Power and James "Cha" Fitzpatrick.

And, as they'd say in Kilkenny, there's savage talent as well in the likes of defenders Seán Cummins and Ciarán Joyce, midfielder Michael Fennelly and forwards TJ Reid, Austin Murphy, and Dave McCormack.

Kilkenny, typically, have cut an ominous path to the final. They hammered Wexford in the Leinster semi-final and then beat Dublin in the final to secure their latest sweep of provincial titles.

In the process they revealed another masterful display of all the necessary skills of the game - the flawless first touch, the quick puck, even the possession game we've come to admire at the highest level.

All six starting forwards scored that day, and while Galway tested them in the closing stages of the semi-final, there's nothing to suggest Kilkenny haven't saved the best until last.

The only weakness worth mentioning is that they're without their regular full back Donncha Cody, who is sidelined with a knee injury, and yet John Dalton proved a capable replacement against Galway.

The senior success last Sunday will no doubt inspire Kilkenny to deliver another title, and yet Tipperary have that same motivation coming from their minor side. What makes their chances more difficult to predict is that they trounced Antrim in the semi-final (5-19 to 0-7) and haven't been seriously tested since the Munster final.

Tipperary haven't won this title since 1995, and the memory of two years ago lingers when they met Kilkenny in the final and lost by 21 points. What that suggests is that Tipperary should have the hunger and desire to set some records straight.

They have big players and plenty of talent of their own in key areas, such as Jim Bob McCarthy at centre back, who returns from injury, midfielder James Woodlock, centre forward Niall Teehan and full forward Darragh Egan.

Earlier in the summer, Tipperary beat the highly-rated Clare under-21s, then got the better of Cork in the Munster final. And, as manager Fr Tom Fogarty pointed out this week, they're not the first team to make an All-Ireland final without being tested in the semi-final. The same thing happened with Kilkenny two years ago, and it didn't do them any harm.

The likes of McCarthy and Teehan need to settle early and hold their lines - which they can - or else Kilkenny could run away with this early on.

Tipperary will also have the greater support thanks to the presence of the camogie seniors in the following final.

That's where their advantage ends, however.

Most of this Kilkenny team were minor champions three years ago, a fair few of them now know about senior success, and they won't want to spoil that winning feeling.