Folks - An open invite to all to come along on Friday night for what promises to be a great nights entertainment with the finals of the U10 league - throw in at 6:30

According to the legend the toughest games a Kilkenny hurler plays is at training.  Our Under 10s have been getting a taste of this over the last few weeks as they've played off their in-house Munster League.  While our lads have rubbed shoulders with players from the best clubs inside and outside the county throughout the year it's safe to say that the Munster League has ramped the intensity up a notch or two.  This league has had it all - yellow cards, red cards, no shows, player revolts, management changes and talk of media blackouts.  And that's before we discuss the hurling.

After 320 minutes of hurling under lights in the main field, the final night of the League is upon us - Friday 19th at 6:30pm - and promises to be epic. 

At this stage 2 teams can win it - Cork or Limerick -  but they have tricky games against Tipperary and Waterford to negotiate in the first round tomorrow before facing off against each other in the last round.

Some facts about the teams:

Cork (Captain - Charlie Keane): after losing their first two games, this team are threatening to pull off the greatest comeback since Bobby Ewing appeared in a Dallas shower (Google it if you're fortunate enough to be too young to get the reference).  While the Cork bandwagon (the self proclaimed 'Red Army') has been growing throughout the league, the team itself has kept their heads down and put themselves in contention for the final night.

Limerick (Captain - Oisin O'Brien): have been the pace setters since the early rounds.  In a bid to leave no stone unturned, they took the controversial step to bring in 'outside management' with Kevin Phelan and Donal Mullins now patrolling the sidelines.  The gamble has been paying off with powerhouse displays from the two lads, and the team are motoring well too.  The management team have imposed a media blackout since Tuesday and have asked supporters not to bother players about tickets for tomorrow night.

Waterford (Captain - Cuan Mac Giolla Cearra):  after a blistering start which saw them lead the league after the first two rounds Waterford have struggled in recent rounds as they were missing some key personnel. They're expected to be back to full strength tomorrow night, and after their heroic draw with Limerick on Tuesday night they will relish a chance to derail Corks plans in the first round on Friday night.

Tipperary (Captain - Cian McInerney):  for a long time the highest scoring team in the league, Tipp were right in contention right up to the final minutes of the last round on Tuesday evening.  However, this was another team missing key personnel last time out and they finally ran out of steam against Limerick after bravely battling 9 v 11 for long periods.  The final pairings offer them a chance of redemption, and with everyone back from injury they will be looking forward to putting the brakes on Limericks impressive recent run. 

We've also been running a 'catching competition' within the League - the player who catches the most balls (a ball has to have traveled at least 20 meters to count) over the course of the league will receive an individual prize.  Starting from a low base where only 4 sliotars were caught on the first night of the league, there were 12 catches last Tuesday night.  The competition is tight and its great to see such a wide spread of lads getting scores on the board (and especially that a few of our 2009 born players - underage again next year - are right in the mix).

So, forget the Bernabéu, the Nou Camp and the San Siro stadium - if you want atmosphere, passion and end to end action get yourself down to O'Garney Park tomorrow evening (19th Oct at 6:30pm) to witness the U10 Munster League finale.

Fri 19th - First Round:

Cork v Waterford

Limerick v Tipp

Fri 19th - Second Round:

Cork v Limerick

Tipp v Waterford.