Am handing over the reigns to Marty again this week as he seeks to impart some crucial match day advice in particular with regard to arriving on time! Over to you Marty! Joe

Well…here we are in the middle of August already and unbelievably heading into the last of the Hurling Semi Finals. I don’t know about you but I find time is going way too fast for me. Could someone put the brakes on please and give us all a chance to draw breath? Mentioning speed and drawing breath…what did you think of Kilkenny?

I was Sideline Reporter for RTÉ last Sunday at Croke Park so I was up close and personal to the action and the sheer speed and intensity of the Cats was so impressive. If they win their drive for five, then they will have deserved it but even if they don’t, they are still the finest hurling team that has been my honour to see.

I couldn’t get over the lack of impact the injuries Brian Hogan and Henry Shefflin had on the Kilkenny performance. Any of us involved with teams will fully appreciate the loss of a centre back or centre forward to any team’s performance but quite honestly, it didn’t upset the Cats balance one little bit.

I am so sorry that Henry will miss the Final. This is cruel luck but it will probably drive on his colleagues even more. Some people have said to me this week, that this Kilkenny team have so many quality players that they probably won’t miss him! Hello?! This is Henry Shefflin we are talking about.

He’s the best player I have ever seen and my favourite by a country mile so his loss is indefinable. If it’s a battle against Tipperary or Waterford, people won’t be long mentioning about the loss of Henry Shefflin. I wish him well and a speedy recovery from that awful cruciate injury.

The Kilkenny minors really impressed me in their All-Ireland Semi Final victory over Galway. The Connacht boys had given the P45 to the Déise in the Quarter Final so I expected a good performance in this Semi Final joust with the Cats. But what a performance by Kilkenny…again!!!

It was brilliant hurling and the team captain led by example. You might remember the No.12?  His name is Cillian Buckley. He’s a young lad from Dicksboro but he scored a goal in the first half at the Hill 16 end that will linger long in my memory.  You will hear a lot more about him and what about the rest of the team I hear you ask! Any pedigree there?

Well, you have John Power, younger brother of Richie, and what about centre forward Padraig Walsh? What a hurler he is. His older sibling is none other than Tommy Walsh and how about centre field and Ollie Walsh? He is the son of Michael and grandson of the great Ollie, former goalkeeper and manager.

Clare or Dublin will play them in the All-Ireland Minor Final and they will have to be at their very best to beat them. By the way, I have great time for the Kilkenny Minor Manager Richie Mulrooney. He’s a gentleman and calls it honestly.

Prior to last Sunday’s Semi Final, he said openly in an interview with me for the Sunday Game that he had a really good team and that five or six of his players would become huge names in the game. This is BEFORE the Minor match. I love people who talk straight. No beating about the bush…and “if we get the bounce of the ball, if the wind is behind us “etc etc. It’s refreshing when people have their own minds and convictions so well done Richie.

The Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship hasn’t disappointed either. The Dublin and Wexford Leinster Final was riveting throughout and it was only in the latter stages of the second half that Dublin crossed the finishing line with a degree of aplomb and style. I really like the look of Dublin this year.

I like Martin Quilty….he’s a good hurler but his surname is also the name of my home village. So…come on Quilty every time! But then you have others like Daire Plunkett who was outstanding at wing forward and would have been my Man of the Match. His work rate and scoring touch was the difference between winning and losing.

The Dublin captain is goalkeeper Finn McGarry and his ball handling and general control of his area was most impressive. Peter Kelly at wing back was equally impressive and gave great support to the midfield efforts of Conor Clinton and Peter Buckeridge.

While the recent loss of both David Treacy and Shane Stapleton to injury will be of some concern to their manager Richie Stakelum, Liam Rushe has class while Niall McMorrow will pose serious problems for Galway in their All-Ireland Semi-Final.

The Clare and Tipperary Munster U-21 Final was of a higher standard and in all honesty I can’t see Tipperary being stopped at all this year. They are strong on every line and in Paddy Kennedy and Brian O’Meara they have hurlers par excellence. Their battle with Clare was pulsating but despite Clare’s great start and Darrach Honan causing the Premier lads a few early problems, there is no doubt the better team won on the night.

I had my own pulsating adventure that night in Thurles as the traffic from the Nenagh side (and thus the Clare side) backed up for miles beyond The Ragg and Borrisoleigh.

I never saw anything like the pile up of cars and I was genuinely surprised to hear the match started on the button of 7.30pm. I accept that people should be at the venue on time but a mid week game always has the added difficulty of people getting away on time from work, farmers getting all the jobs done before heading to Semple etc.

To be honest there are sufficient reasons for the Authorities to be more flexible on occasions like this and surely in the worst case scenario, we can always switch on the floodlights! But to be fair to everyone, nobody could have anticipated the massive crowd that turned up so hindsight is a wonderful gift that we all possess!

I was very lucky because a kind Garda on a motorbike guided me through the traffic jam from the Newport Cross to the Greyhound Stadium entrance and thus had a few minutes to spare before starting the Crossbar Challenge at half time.

The Bord Gáis Energy Crossbar Challenge has once again been a huge success. The skill of hitting the sliotar off the crossbar is not easy but when you hear the clang off the crossbar, the crowd always respond with a massive cheer.

At the Leinster Final in Parnell Park, the winner was Craobh Chiarain’s James Ryan who hit the black spot on his third and final shot. The other competitors were Cuala’s Stephen Butler, Shelmaliers Thomas Barron and Sliabh Bhui Gaels’s Billy Nolan.

In Thurles the winner was a local lad, Stephen Maher from Thurles Sarsfields who hit the crossbar on his first shot while Sixmilebridge’s Kevin Lynch, Eire Og’s Graham Glynn and Clonoulty Rossmore’s Paudie White were desperately unlucky with their efforts.

Our next Bord Gáis Energy Crossbar Challenge will take place on Saturday August 21^st in O’Connor Park, Tullamore when Tipperary will play Antrim in the first U-21 All Ireland Semi Final at 4pm and Galway will play Dublin at 6pm.

I’m not one for giving out advice…I did after all miss the whole of the first half in the Munster U-21 Final…but if you want to see great hurling, then leave early, get the jobs done, the cows milked, the hay saved, the dogs fed and head to Tullamore on August 21^st!  

It really is the place to be and you can also enjoy another round of our enjoyable Crossbar Challenge!! I might even give it a go myself!!

See you in Tullamore!!

Tags: Bord Gáis Energy Crossbar Challenge, Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U21 All Ireland Championship, Bord Gáis Energy U-21 Semi Finals, Clare, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, O'Connor Park, Tipperary, Tullamore, waterford, Wexford