Manager Maher Says Kilkenny Determined To Atone For Last Year's Minor Camogie Heartbreak

David Maher says the prospect of contesting an Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor A camoige final on home soil was a big motivation for his Kilkenny players.

UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny city will host Sunday's Minor A final between Kilkenny and Cork.

It'll be Cork's second visit to the county in a matter of weeks having defeated Kilkenny by 3-10 to 1-13 in Dunmore to top their group.

That catapulted Cork through to an All-Ireland semi-final against holders Tipperary which they won with six points to spare.

But Kilkenny have arguably been most impressive since that loss to Cork, registering 10 goals in knock-out wins over Galway and Limerick.

Both of those games required road trips but it'll be a short hop for Maher and his crew to the Kilkenny venue for the showpiece.

"Going up and winning in Ballinasloe against Galway and then being away to Limerick, it just shows the character in the group," said Kilkenny manager Maher.

"They're very determined, they're all 17 or 18-year-old young girls but they're very serious about their camogie.

They come up and embrace training and they've done everything that myself and my management team have asked of them. They'd run through a wall for you.

They're here on merit and obviously we were aware that the final was in Nowlan Park this year and I suppose we really didn't want an All-Ireland in Nowlan Park without Kilkenny being involved in it. That was extra motivation for everyone involved and thankfully we've made it there.

Maher was also in charge of the Presentation Kilkenny school side that reached an All-Ireland PPS Junior camogie final in early March.

"Emily Phelan from John Lockes would have been captain of that school team at centre-forward," said Maher. "She's a corner-forward with the Kilkenny minor team. Taylor Aylward of Ballyhale was centre-back on our school team and is wing-back with Kilkenny. They're the two crossovers."

Aylward is a daughter of former Ballyahle Shamrocks hurler Bob Aylward, a multiple All-Ireland club SHC medallist.

He played alongside clubmate Henry Shefflin for years and Shefflin's daughter, Sadhbh, is also up front on the Kilkenny minor team.

It's a talented bunch with Ona Kennedy excelling from placed balls while Lucy Boyd netted twice in the semi-final defeat of Limerick. Both Kennedy and Boyd featured for Loreto Kilkenny in February's All-Ireland PPS Senior A camogie final win.

For those who were involved with the Kilkenny minors last year, there has been added incentive to kick on in 2025.

"We got beaten last year in an All-Ireland semi-final after extra-time," explained Maher. "That was a sickener. Tipperary beat us and went on to win the All-Ireland. We have 10 on the panel from last year so there's a nice bit of continuity there."

Maher expects an open and exciting final against a strong Cork side. Captain Rachel Murphy stood out for Cork in their semi-final win over Tipp, scoring five points from play.

When the sides met in the group in mid-March, it was two goals in the final quarter from Shona Cronin that won it for Cork who had trailed at the interval.

"They have a serious forward line, they had nine different scorers in their semi-final," noted Maher of Cork. "Rachel Murphy will take watching but with nine different scorers they obviously have strength and scoring ability in lots of different areas.

"They're a traditional county like ourselves so sweepers and defensive half-forwards probably won't really come into play. We tend to play 15 on 15 and just go for it and those types of games can be the best ones, when both teams are just going for it."