Under-21 Hurling/All-Ireland Semi-final: Gavin Cummiskeytalks to Galway's John Lee about that other semi-final

All this talk of the Dublin hurling revival has allowed the progress of Galway and Cork to the other under-21 All-Ireland semi-final go largely unnoticed in certain regions. They play each other on Saturday afternoon in Semple Stadium with a host of senior faces involved.

One of these is Galway's breakthrough centre back John Lee - the only certainty amid the game of musical chairs that was Ger Loughnane's squad this summer.

Lee was back in Croke Park yesterday to help launch the 35th AIB Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland hurling sevens, which takes place on Saturday, September 1st, the day before the senior final, as usual.

Lee was minor captain in 2004, when Galway beat Cork in a semi-final.

"Our goalkeeper (James Skehill) was man of the match that day so that tells a lot," he recalls. "We won by four points in the end, but we were lucky enough."

They went on to beat Kilkenny in the final.

Galway are back in the familiar position of trying to blow off the cobwebs of inactivity against a battle-hardened Munster side.

"In the knockout stages we don't know how we are going to perform," says Lee. "It was the same situation at minor when we played Cork in the semi-final and they had the Munster championship. We won that game. We have played three good challenges but obviously Cork have an advantage from that point of view."

It helps, Lee admits, that training recently has meant a strengthening of bonds forged at minor level: "We have a very strong team this year if we can just gel together."

The presence of Lee and other senior panellists, Karl Wade, Ger Mahon and Skehill, should help the process along, while they also number within their ranks the great prodigy of the western seaboard: Joe Canning, probably the first hurler to have become a household name before playing a senior inter-county game.

"All you do as a back is get the ball to Joe from any direction at all and you will always get scores," says Lee. "He's a great finisher. We would have loved to have him (at senior). He would have been a huge addition to us but he wanted to take a year out and maybe it was the best thing for him.

"He'll come on a lot. He'll be there next year, I have no doubt about it. In the long run he may have made a good decision."

On his arrival in Galway Loughnane warned it would take a year to win an All-Ireland. Galway lacked shape - apart from Lee at centre back - throughout the qualifiers, when they were mauled by Clare down in Ennis before beating Laois and putting it up to Kilkenny for an hour.

"I think it was hard for Ger to come in because Ger wouldn't have known much about Galway club hurling," says Lee. "All he would have seen were the few games the seniors have played over a few years so he had to get opinions from scratch. He was changing players around trying to get their best position. I think he learned an awful lot.

"It was only really in the Clare and Kilkenny games, two games, that he would have learned anything about players . . . I'm sure he will have a plan next year and hopefully the addition of one or two players maybe from the under-21 panel here."

Do Limerick have a chance of stopping Kilkenny in the main event?

"Kilkenny are very hard to beat. You try and stop Henry Shefflin and (Martin) Comerford and then they threw someone else (Eddie Brennan on the occasion in question) out of the bag to score two goals against us.

"You see John Tennyson. He came on against us and held the centre very well and was still on the bench the next day. He must be wondering what he has to do to get on the field. Richie Power came on and changed the game. They have so much talent.

"Limerick have more passion then any team I've seen in a long time. I would always say a team that wants it more is usually in pole position for the game, but I still think Kilkenny have so much class."

WeekendFixtures

Saturday

All-Ireland Under-21 Semi-final

Galway v Cork, Thurles, 3.30pm, J McGrath (Westmeath), TG4.

All-Ireland IHC final

Waterford v Wexford, Nowlan Park, 6pm, E Morris (Dublin).

Women's IFC Semi-final

Tipperary v Wexford, Portlaoise, 5.15pm, TG4.

Women's All-Ireland SFC Semi-final

Cork v Laois, Portlaoise, 7pm, TG4.

Sunday

All-Ireland MFC Semi-final

Laois v Derry, Croke Park, 1.45, R Hickey (Clare).

All-Ireland SFC semi-final

Dublin v Kerry, Croke Park, 3.30, J Bannon (Longford).