Young pups keep age old rivalry alive in minor semi-final
TIPPERARY v KILKENNY
Croke Park
Sunday 29th July
Throw-in @ 1.30pm (E.T.)
Ref: Rory McGann (Clare)
It has been all change in this years inter-county hurling championship but one thing that stays the same, a Tipperary v Kilkenny knockout championship match sells itself.
With both counties senior sides out of contention for the Liam MacCarthy Cup, for both it is about looking to the future and seeing the next generation of likely players than might help them back to contending at senior level.
The change to under 17 means it will be 2-3 years before any of these players break into a senior inter-county team but it doesn't do any harm to see what it coming and to possibly target a number of players for development in the coming years to speed up their progress to senior level.
Winning or losing an All Ireland minor semi-final this Sunday won't change any of that but all the same at least reaching an All Ireland final is a nice bridging point and that is what both sets of players and management will be targeting this Sunday.
With the minor changing to a round-robin format, neither Tommy Dunne for Kilkenny counterpart Richie Mulrooney can say they don't know everything about their team at this stage, particularly Kilkenny who have played eight matches to get to this stage.
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