My U21 career started off as plenty before me. It was unremarkable enough. Called to a trial on a cold Sunday morning in Kilkenny. And spending the following weeks fighting to keep my name at the top of the manager’s mind.
Hoping there was a place for me somewhere in his plans. I had been hurling well in midfield for my club and had actually hurled the previous two years for the Kilkenny minors out around that area.
But Mickey Walsh, the Kilkenny U21 manager in 2008, had a whole other plan. I guess Mickey wanted to allow other midfielders have a run out in the centre of the field so he threw me in corner back one evening in Palmerstown. Whatever I did that night, Mickey liked it and I was told I'd be starting there against Dublin in the first round of the Leinster Championship a few weeks later. It was a switch that changed the path of my own hurling career.
Having no experience of that position, I played the Dublin match in the corner and walked away from it pretty content. A few days later I was on the couch at home, sleeping after a day's work labouring on a site, pending my upcoming enlistment to the army, when I noticed I had a missed call. Half asleep I rang the number back, "Paul, Martin Fogarty here. Have ya any interest in coming in training during the week?"
Martin was a selector under Brian Cody for the best part of a decade. And needless to say I was interested!
I enjoyed that summer on the seniors training panel. I stayed with the U21s mostly.
Tipperary's Sean Carey and Paul Murphy of Kilkenny in 2007©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
Mickey Walsh was mad for hurling. To such extent did Mickey enjoy matches that I can't remember doing a hurling drill in my entire first year. The week of the U21 All-Ireland final Mickey got so carried away we ended up playing a 40 minute match on the Tuesday night. I remember Paddy Hogan and John Mulhall jostling so hard for a ball at one stage that both of them fell out over the small wall at the side of the pitch in Palmerstown!
The day of the All-Ireland we are at the Green Isle Hotel on the Naas Road. When we’d finished eating, a few pucks started in the car park beside the team bus. What ensued was a game where one lad stood back and everybody gathered in a group as the ball was struck into the air and we all competed. Where was Mickey Walsh? Watching on and loving every second!
A ball was sent up at one point in that car park and everybody jumped to compete. One hand climbed higher than the rest and it wasn’t TJ Reid or Richie Hogan. It was a fella called Richie Dollard. Richie landed on a small green sign which indicated, ironically enough, that we were stood in a car park.
Manager Michael 'Micky' Walsh celebrates victory ©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
In the melee, Richie pulled that small green sign out of its moorings but crucially (for any bemused bystanders and tourists) he never lost the ball from his hand. Mickey erupted. "BRILLLLIANT RICHIE!". An hour later we went out and hurled in an All-Ireland final. TJ and Richie had won senior medals seven days previously and of course it was a point apiece from the two lads that saw us seal that game against a good Tipp team that included names like Seamus Callanan, Pa Bourke, Brendan Maher and more.
Mickey Walsh was mad for hurling. And so were we.
Richie Hogan in 2008 ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
2009 saw us back in the All-Ireland final again. We had another great team that year but we came up against a brilliant Clare team who we couldn't get the better of. We were ahead by two points with 15 minutes to play but it was Clare who closed it out 15 points to 14.
The following year I was named captain. My chance to hopefully lift some kind of cup as a Kilkenny captain. But it wasn't to be. After beating Offaly in the first round we met Dublin at Nowlan park. They hit the ground running from the start while we never got going. Dublin pushed on to enjoy a good year of hurling and our year came to an abrupt halt. Just two games as Kilkenny captain and no real chance to make it my own.
I had great days hurling U21. Days that stood to me going into the senior panel. There's a lot to be said for those cold mornings in January. When you look back on it.
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