'It doesn't add up' - Kilkenny manager on the removal of minor and senior double headers
Listen to the full interview on the Kilkenny People Sport Podcast
Kilkenny will go in search of their second Leinster minor title in as as many years later this evening, when Niall Bergin's team face Galway in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise from 5.15pm.
Cian Byrne bagged 3-3 as Kilkenny got the better of a stubborn Dublin outfit in last Saturday’s Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship semi-final at UPMC Nowlan Park.
The O’Loughlin Gaels man got two goals inside the final 10 minutes as the home side rattled off 2-4 without reply to eventually see off their Leinster neighbours.
Galway, a team the Cats faced in the round-robin series now stand in Kilkenny's way of provincial honours. However, will Kilkenny supporters travel in their numbers or will factors including the scheduling of club games locally on Saturday evening prove to be a stumbling block?
That talking point has been on many supporter's lips over the past few days with some questioning why Kilkenny and Dublin's minor and senior provincial semi-finals in UPMC Nowlan Park last weekend were scheduled for different days rather than as a double header. A decision that has become common place by the GAA in recent years after the re-grading of minor hurling to U17.
"It's a hard one to figure out lets put it that way," minor manager Niall Bergin told the Kilkenny People Sport Podcast on a recent edition.
"Surely the curtain raiser to the senior game (Kilkenny and Dublin) would have made sense," he said, adding, "it's difficult to understand at times. We talk about the pressures for younger players playing in front of a crowd but it doesn't add up when you get to All-Ireland Final day and you have 20,000 in a particular stadium watching the team," Bergin continued.
"It really doesn't add up."