Championship Glory In Sight

Hurling time this weekend out in Leuven with the third (of four) round of the European Hurling Championship. Victory would see us put back-to-back Championships together and secure the first major piece of silverware of 2010 as well as our home tournament trophy.

There will be a record number of teams participating; Lux, Hague, Paris, Zurich, a team of US soldiers (!) and for the first time, two Belgium teams. We hear The Hague are travelling with big numbers so that indicates some intent from their side. They have the best spread of hurlers in the opposing teams and will be a threat if they come tuned in. Lux gave us a big scare in the group the last day and that performance combined with their football showing a couple of weeks ago demonstrates a strong spirit in that camp.

Motivation wise it has been a tough year for the hurling because of the manner of last year's victory and this year's wins to date. The margins have been big and whilst that's not good for the game in Europe in general, we were on the wrong end of enough of those defeats for long enough so should be enjoying dining at the top table while we are there. You can be sure things will swing in the future.

As I mentioned, we have two teams for the first time this weekend and that's another positive step forward for us. We've been fortunate to get enough new lads in this year to replace those departures from last year and this weekend we look forward to the long over due debut of former inter-county 'star' Jim McGrath. He says he has donned the county colours with three teams; Tipp U-16, Tipp over-40's (he is still in his mid-twenties) and he was part of the Cavan Senior panel when stationed up there. His presence will be a boost considering captain Crusher and forward talisman Michael Hough will be missing.

The weather will be approaching 30 degrees out in Leuven so the ball should travel nice and crisply and make for good fast games. Our ladies are also in action and similarly, they also have a bumper fixture list. They have had a season of nearlies so far. They should have won in The Hague and they could have won in Lux. New coach Olga is doing great work with them this year with a strong focus on improving their skills. Numbers are booming so a victory on Saturday would provide a great boost.