Kelly seeking debut Nicky Rackard win
Paddy Kelly chats with Eddie McCarthy.
WHILE most eyes will be on the Louth footballers in Pairc Tailteann on Saturday evening, Paddy Kelly will be hoping to follow in Peter Fitzpatrick's footsteps in the afternoon as he bids to open his championship account against Tyrone in Dowdallshill. Fresh from reaching the NHL Division 3B League final and clinching the Leinster Junior Hurling Shield for the third year running, Kelly will make his Nicky Rackard Cup bow in St Brigid's Park.
And while Fitzer managed to kick off his championship tenure with a win over Longford in Portlaoise, Kelly is confident his team can afford him the same privilege on Saturday.
'Tyrone aren't a bad side. They won the Lory Meagher competition last year and they should have a few players back from the day we played them in the League, but having said that it's a game we can win.
'I said at the start of the year that our league form would have a major bearing on how we fare in the Nicky Rackard and we got to the league final, so we would be looking at reaching the final of that now too.'
The obvious obstacles to a first ever Nicky Rackard triumph for the Wee County would be London and Armagh, but Kelly feels his side's League form should have earned them plenty of respect, even against the more fancied sides.
'London had a good win over Derry in Ulster at the weekend, so they'll be tough to beat and Armagh have been operating at a higher level over the past few years.
'But our form stands up too. We reached the League final and I don't think we did ourselves justice against Wicklow.
'They've gone on to reach the semi-finals of the Christy Ring; they beat Meath and only lost to Kildare by a goal after having a man sent off early in the game.'
And while Kelly would be loathe to underestimate Tyrone, he is determined to see his side make an early statement of intent.
'Nothing but a win will do. You get a second chance, but we don't want to be going into that side of the draw.
'It's all about building momentum and even though some people will say the Leinster junior competition we just won wasn't much, it got us back into a winning frame of mind and we had two hard matches in it against Longford and Warwickshire.
'We had a good training weekend in Kilkenny there too. We played a challenge on Friday night and then had two sessions on Saturday, one with the Kilkenny coach Martin Fogarty and then another with James McGarry, the Ballyhale Shamrocks manager. That was a great experience for the lads.
'They seem to be in a good frame of mind and we have no real injury problems. Shane Callan and Johnny Carter are carrying knocks but I think they'll be okay by Saturday.
'Gerard Smyth, who missed a lot of the league, is back in the picture again too, so we should be at full strength.'
- John SAVAGE
