James Stephens Under-21 manager Richie Hayes says the Club will be a looking at a 3rd County Final defeat in less than two months unless they improve their performance from the Northern Final.
Speaking to KCLR ahead of Sunday’s County Final against Ballyhale Shamrocks, Richie says the Under-21 Championship is very important stepping towards Senior Hurling….
“But like the reality of Senior Club hurling and any club hurling at any grade in Kilkenny is your only as good as your last game, and our guys realize even with the County Final coming up Under-21, they don’t perform to the same, they probably need to up it another gear, we won’t be winners and we will be looking at three County Final defeats in the space of two months”
“The experience that you get from Under-21 is important for moving into the Senior Championship and I suppose it’s where you identify where your next group of Senior players are going to come from. They often tend to shine in the Under-21 Championship”
