Hynes looking forward to open hurling championship

Even standard across the board

Cavan hurling captain Matthew Hynes believes this year’s club hurling championship will be one of the most competitive in several seasons.

Hynes’ Mullahoran, Cootehill Celtic, East Cavan Gaels and Pearse Óg are the four clubs in the running.

“The club league starts on Monday, July 20, we are facing Pearse Ógs first. That’s the day after our first league game so it’s going to be a busy weekend for myself but we are looking forward to it,” the dual player told The Anglo-Celt.

“There’s going to be good competition this year, everyone is at home, there’s no excuse, it will be very open in football and hurling.

“Our team is getting older and Pearse Ógs are strong. Last year’s final was one of the most competitive games I’ve played here since I came down from Dublin. There is youth coming through in other teams and that’s something we have to look at big time in Mullahoran St Joseph’s, bringing the youth through, because I think the average age is around 30.”

Lockdown came at a bad time for the county side, who, he said, were starting to really hit their stride.

“With Ollie (Bellew) and the management team there, we had a good crew, we had a great atmosphere and a bit of momentum as well.

“Training was going well, the lads were fit… The lockdown couldn’t have come at a worse time really because we were getting peak numbers at training and sessions were going really well.

“We didn’t do as well as we hoped in the league, we suffered a bit of a shock at the start losing to Lancashire but we had a bit of momentum building up.

“Players had bought into it and really put a lot of energy into it and it was starting to show.

“We’ll be looking to regain that momentum again when we go back training on September 14.”