All-Ireland Under 20 B Hurling Championship final – Richie McElligott Cup
DOWN U20 hurling boss Ronan Sheehan has urged his side to grasp their chance of winning an All-Ireland title, despite going into tomorrow’s showdown with Kerry as underdogs.
The young Mourne men staged an emphatic late comeback to beat Derry in the semi-final of the Richie McElligott Cup and will be confident of springing a surprise against a three-in-a-row title chasing Kerry.
The Newry Shamrocks man acknowledges that his men need to have all their ducks in a row and play to the best of their potential if are to overcome the Kingdom but he feels Down are ready.
“Kerry will be looking for three in a row but we are confident that we can stop them if we play to our ability and if we can get our forwards firing for the whole game,” said Sheehan.
“Because they have only been firing for 20 minutes at a time, such as against Derry, but if I can get them firing on all cylinders then we will be hard to stop.”
The Mourne side have also beaten Donegal and Sligo and players such as Conor McCrickard, Michael McKey, Ronan Costello, Ronan Blair, goalkeeper Conor McAlornan and captain Ruairi McCrickard have been the standout players.
They have come through underage ranks and development squads and while the ultimate aim is that many of the players step up to senior level, the Down hurling boss feels that is best served by winning silverware.
“It is fantastic, we don't get to too many finals in Down but this is definitely something that we have been building towards over this last couple of years, certainly since the Celtic Challenge victory a couple of years ago,” said Sheehan.
“We knew we had a talented team and we were trying to build on that, primarily to try and test ourselves against the likes of Kerry at U20, because if we have got an ambition to play against those teams in the McDonagh Cup, well then we have to try to give it a go at U20 level.
“We are definitely in it to win it. It is a big challenge and a huge task ahead of us, but I would very much say that it is a 50-50 game. A couple of years ago this same team lost to Meath in a Minor B Final and we are looking to learn from that and get over the line this time.”
Like the majority of Down hurling teams, this team is largely built with players from the three Ards clubs but the Down manager insists that it has always been his philosophy to have a strong representation from most of the hurling clubs.
Players also come from Newry Shamrocks, Carryduff, Bredagh and Laitroim are also represented.
“We have a real good mix from nine of the clubs and that is a big boost,” said Sheehan.
“At underage we have always tried to involve as many clubs as possible because when they get the exposure to the higher level at training they will bring it back to their clubs.”
Down face Kerry today (Saturday) at 3.45pm in Pairc Tailteann, Navan, as the curtain-raiser to the Super 8 clash between Meath and Kerry.
