Another guest blogger takes the hot seat this week and who better than four-time All-Ireland winner Richie Power to give his insights on the game of hurling.  We only provide the cream of the crop here on breakingthrough.ie! 

- Joe

It’s not easy to make the transition from Minor success to U-21 success but that’s what the Dublin U-21 hurling team did last week when they won the Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U-21 Hurling title.

I must say I have been hugely impressed with Dublin this year. First of all, they dispatched of Kilkenny in emphatic style in our own back yard in the semi final. Their physical strength was evident for everyone to see as they powered past the reigning Leinster champions.

Then, in the Leinster Final last Wednesday, they had to overcome plenty of obstacles, both on field and off. For most teams, losing your centre back before a major provincial final would be a fatal blow but Dublin won this game without their influential centre back Rory O’Carroll due to football commitments. This loss probably explained their slow and nervy start and actually it wasn’t until nine minutes before the end that they went into the lead. But they stuck to their task very well and kept chipping away at Wexford’s lead.

A quick word on Wexford – they had been very quiet in the build up, which is a great way to be coming into a final. On the night itself, they were a hungry and fiercely determined bunch of guys. They brought the form they showed in the first half against Carlow to Parnell Park and speaking of centre backs, Andrew Shore from Davidstown-Courtnacuddy was immense all night. On this form it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a regular feature for the seniors.

Last week also saw the reigning Bord Gáis Energy All Ireland U-21 Hurling Champions Clare make their Championship bow against close neighbours Limerick. I couldn’t see past a Clare win here after such a successful 2009 and indeed so it proved, although it was far closer than many expected.

And in the other Munster semi final we had old rivals Cork facing Tipperary in what was an extra-time thriller. In hind sight, not getting a sterner test against Waterford might have come back to haunt Cork, but Tipperary did enough in the end to win.  

On a personal level I’m delighted that we retained our Leinster crown a few weeks ago and most importantly a place in the All-Ireland Semi Final – sorry Joe! 

It’s where we wanted to be at the start of the championship and we’ve achieved that. We don’t know our opponents yet but we soon will over the next few weeks. So for now it’s back to the training field and preparations for the 8^th of August. 

I’ve been very fortunate over the past 7-8 years to be involved with the group of players that I been playing with. Without those players I’ve no doubt I wouldn’t have half the medals I have now. It started from a young age winning a Nenagh Co-Op medal with at least 10 of the guys that I’m currently playing senior with. I think that stat on its own proves how crucial under-age success is to making the transition from Minor to U-21 to Senior. We were very lucky as that same group of guys went on to win 2 Minor All-Irelands, 2 U-21 All-Irelands and quite a few have been part of 4 Senior All-Irelands.

Making the transition from Minor to U-21 to Senior level is not easy but is possible. It takes an awful lot of hard work and even more sacrifices which can sometimes be the hardest. Believe me I know. There are an awful lot of distractions for a young guy when he turns 18 and sometimes these distractions are too tempting to refuse. This is why I think some of the best hurlers in the country don’t always make it, which is a major shame because the best talent deserves to be highlighted and admired. Where would hurling be today without stars such as Joe Canning, Henry Shefflin, Eoin Kelly, Tommy Walsh? All a young player needs to do today is look at these guys and believe that one day, it’ll be their turn to show their skill at the highest level.

A group of Dublin players have now made the transition from Minor to U-21 success and hopefully those guys can carry the success through to senior level. But as we saw at the weekend against Antrim, it takes more than underage success to carry a county through to senior.

As we head into another week of U-21 hurling action (Antrim play Down and Derry play Armagh in the Ulster U-21 Semi-Finals) I’ve no doubt that this year’s competition will unearth more stars as the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship hits top gear as we move closer to the biggest day of them all in September.

Enjoy the week’s action as the rollercoaster that is the Hurling Championship really picks up speed in the coming weeks.

- Richie

Richie showing the forwards how its done!!