Minor hurlers target Peadar O Liathain Cup victory

Meath minor hurling manager Sean Callanan clearly loves his hurling and is eagerly looking forward to Sunday's Peadar O Liathain MHC final at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday against Down.

Even a brief chat with the Tipperary native reveals his passion for the game, something that is no doubt one of the reasons why he is the current manager of the Meath minor team.

In that role he has an opportunity to help develop players; to make them better; to assist them fulfil their full potential.

From Thurles, Callanan's family is steeped in the small-ball game.

"My father (Dick Callanan) would have played with the great Tipperary Sarsfields team of the 1960s that included the likes of Jimmy Doyle, Paddy Doyle and Sean McLoughlin among other great players," he explained as he stood at the entrance to the clubhouse at Aughrim after Sunday's game.

"The club had a great team in that era, they won 10 county championship in 11 years which showed just how good they were.

"I would also have had a few grand-uncles who played for Tipperary back in the day, but as Neily Cole (one of the Meath selectors) says to me: 'What happened to you!'"

In his early hurling career Callanan (who clearly has a good sense of humour) played for Sarsfields before he moved to Dublin where he worked in the banking sector.

He played for the Na Fianna club in the capital and was good enough to be selected for Dublin for a number of years. "I'm a bit of journeyman," he added with a smile.

Later he and his family settled in Dunboyne where he played for the local side before taking up the challenge of putting something back into the game he loves by coaching young players including the crop of players who make up the current Meath minor panel.

He has worked with this crop of young players for the last few years, taking them through the various under-age levels and now he and his charges are on the cusp of landing the Peadar O Liathain Cup, aka the All-Ireland MHC B competition.

Last Sunday's victory over Wicklow earned the young Royals a place the final with only Down now standing between them and the silverware.

If Meath reproduce the kind of hurling they brought to the table on Sunday they surely have a chance. Certainly Callanan believes so.

He also believes the very experience of winning a trophy would be another significant step forward for his young troops. Winning he knows can become infectious, a habit worth forming.

"It would be brilliant for these lads to win the Peadar O Liathain Cup," he suggested.

"I just want to see these players develop as hurlers and winning a trophy would be a way of showing they are doing that.

"We were in the Leinster championship earlier in the year, but in the end we opted for this competition," he added.

How Meath have ended up in the final of the MHC B is an illustration how topsy turvey this year has been.

"The draw for the Leinster MHC paired us with Carlow and if we won that we were in a group with Dublin, Laois and Offaly," stated Callanan.

"Covid knocked that on the head and we had a decision to make to play in the Leinster but we opted for the Peadar O Liathain.

"We picked that competition and we are delighted to be in it, we have a chance to take take some silverware home, that would be important for these players."

Not that they are strangers to such an experience.

For the past two years Meath won the Murray Cup at u-15 and u-16 levels.

"For some reason it was named the Murray Cup at both u-15 and u-16 levels but it was great to win it," added Callanan.

On Sunday he talked about how he was impressed, yet again, by the workrate his players displayed.

Their hunger and desire to be the better than a well-motivated home side who certainly didn't concede any ground easily.

"Wicklow were physically strong, but our lads, particularly our defence, held strong.

"We worked the ball well to get into scoring positions and in the end we closed out the game," he concluded.

Callanan is assisted in running the team by some well-known figures in Meath hurling including Neil Cole, Gary Cole, Damien Cunningham and Kevin McKenna.

Some might not see the MHC B as one of the most coveted hurling titles but don't count Sean Callanan among them.

He's a passionate hurling man and a victory against Down would clearly mean a lot to him - and his players.