Martin Keoghan of Kilkenny poses for a portrait during an Allianz Hurling League media conference at the Rivercourt Hotel in Kilkenny. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
Kilkenny hurler Mossy Keoghan never had to look too for a positive role model.
His own father Liam won an All-Ireland Senior Hurling medal in 1993 and an All-Star in 1997.
Liam’s All-Star award has sat at home on the mantle-piece for as long as Mossy can remember, a very visible reminder that great things can be achieved if you’re willing to work for them.
He’s not sure where his father’s All-Ireland medal is, but that too is a constant source of motivation.
Mossy has won five Leinster senior championships with Kilkenny, but the medal he really wants is the one his father already has.
“It definitely is motivation,” Keoghan told GAA.ie. “On the Kilkenny panel, the majority of us don't have All-Ireland medals.
“The hunger is there to win one. We really are going all out. At the same time we have that experience of lads with a few medals too, TJ (Reid) and ‘Scruff' (Eoin Murphy) so we do have the experience but for my generation, my age, we haven't won one yet and we'd definitely use that as something to drive us on.
“The county has won one in 10 years so that's definitely something we want to get over the line with.”
Liam Keoghan of Kilkenny, a father of current Cats star, Mossly Keoghan, pictured during the Church & General National Hurling League Quarter-Final match between Laois and Kilkenny at at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary, in 1996. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
If Kilkenny don’t win this year’s All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship then it’ll be the longest stretch the county has ever gone without bringing the Liam MacCarthy Cup to Noreside.
Does the current panel sense any impatience or pressure from the Kilkenny hurling public?
“No, I think it's more support you get,” says Keoghan. “We're probably lucky with the years we had before. We had so much that maybe we were just so used to winning.
“It's a bit different now alright but I think it's more support than pressure that's there. There's naturally going to be pressure with playing for Kilkenny.
“It's nearly an expectation to win an All-Ireland. Hopefully this year we can get over the line. It's definitely something we're using as a motivation.
“I don't know if it's the added pressure of the 10 years but having not won one we absolutely want to use that as hunger to get us over the line.
“I suppose there's a lot of teams very close, but it's just about finding that little bit of something to get over the line. I do think we are there or thereabouts, and I suppose it's about being able to produce it on the day then to get us over the line.
“We do have a bit of improvement to go, and I suppose if you’ve seen a few of our league games, we're not the finished article yet at all.
“I suppose the freshness of a few younger lads coming through and the experience there, we have a nice blend at the moment. So hopefully we can get it right this year to get us over the line.
“Five Leinsters…there's a lot to be appreciated about the five Leinsters, but obviously you want the pinnacle at the end of the day.”
Martin Keoghan of Kilkenny shoots past Wexford goalkeeper Mark Fanning to score his side's first goal, in the 23rd minute, during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A match between Wexford and Kilkenny at Chadwicks Wexford Park in Wexford. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
If Kilkenny are to reach the pinnacle this year then it’s highly likely that Keoghan will play a big part.
He’s been their best forward so for in the League, scoring 2-13 from play in four matches, and seemingly brimful of confidence every time he gets his hand on the ball.
“I suppose it probably came from my club campaign last year, I really enjoyed the club campaign last year,” says Keoghan of his rich vein in form.
“We had a good league campaign and we won a lot of matches and put up good scores, so probably carrying through a lot of the confidence and the habits I had with Tullaroan through to Kilkenny, to be honest.
“Just really enjoying the hurling at the moment, that's the reason we do it, to enjoy it. That's probably the main source of where it’s coming from.”
Tipperary come to town on Sunday and, while the teams haven’t locked horns in this decade with the frequency or ferocity they did in the last one, Keoghan is adamant the Premier County remain the team everyone in Kilkenny wants to beat most.
“The rivalry is definitely still there anyway,” he says. “For me living in Tullaroan it's only a few minutes away from the border with Tipp. It's definitely strong.
“Even where I'm teaching in Callan we have a good few Tipp students in the school as well, coming in from Mullinahone. The rivalry is definitely alive and well and strong.
“I'm really looking forward to the match this weekend now, especially in Nowlan Park. We probably need to make it more of a fortress because home matches are so important in the league.
“Then come the Championship round robin format you really need to be making the most of the home matches. Our last home match against Galway, we probably let ourselves down a bit.
“But we have a home match now against Tipp and then against Limerick. We really need to put huge emphasis on them.”
With two wins and two defeats from their four matches thus far in the League, Sunday’s game is very much a watershed one in terms of Kilkenny’s campaign.
“Absolutely,” says Keoghan. “We're going to learn a lot from the next round of matches, as in are you going towards or a league final or are you looking towards relegation?
“And Tipp are probably the in-form team at the moment so we'll find out where we're at. Being in Nowlan Park, we definitely don't want Tipp to be getting one over us.
“Yeah, it's a huge match and we really want to be coming out on top to aim for a league final. That's our aim.”
