MOSSY KEOGHAN grew up looking at his dad’s All-Star on the mantelpiece and dared to dream.
Liam Keoghan is a 1993 All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny, and he picked up the individual gong for his performances at wing-back four years later.
But 1998 was a busy year in the house.
Liam retired from inter-county hurling at 31, as Brian Cody became Cats boss after a Liam McCarthy final loss to Offaly.
Martin — aka ‘Mossy’ — was born that December and he would follow in his dad’s footsteps by reaching the Kilkenny senior panel in 2018.
He has won five Leinster SHC crowns — three more than his legendary father — but is yet to claim an All-Ireland or All-Star.
Though Keoghan Jr hopes that he can make more room on the family mantelpiece soon.
Mossy said: “He has the All-Star on the mantelpiece.
“They were the big ones and they’re cool.
“It’s on the mantelpiece and he has the All-Ireland medal as well so hopefully there might be a few more added to it.
“He has that one over me. I suppose you want to have the bragging rights as well, don’t you? I think he was happy to go when he did.
“I suppose he wanted to go out while he was . . . he didn’t want to labour to a decision or maybe be further down the ranks by the time he finished off.
“He was happy to finish off on the high of winning an All-Star during the previous year.
“He’d be out pucking in the garden and bringing me to the matches.
“He coached me underage and brought me everywhere. He had a big influence on me.”
VITAL COG
Schoolteacher Keoghan, 26, is a vital cog in Derek Lyng’s attack as the Cats chase their first senior All-Ireland since 2015.
A decade without glory is an eternity on Noreside but the hunger to end their famine is greater than ever.
Keoghan cherishes his provincial titles but the big one would dwarf them all.
He said: “It definitely is a motivation for us.
“The majority of us don’t have All-Ireland medals on the Kilkenny panel.
“The hunger is there to win one and we really are going all out to do it.
“There’s going to be pressure when playing for Kilkenny. It’s nearly an expectation to win an All-Ireland.
“I don’t know if it’s the pressure of the ten years but having not won one we want to use that hunger to get over the line.
“At the same time, we have that experience of lads with a few medals too, TJ Reid and Eoin Murphy, so we do have the experience.
“But for my generation, we haven’t won one yet and we’d definitely use that as something to drive us on.
“The county hasn’t won one in ten years so that’s definitely something we want to get over the line with.
“I suppose there’s a lot of teams who have come very close, but it’s just about getting over the line. I think we are there or thereabouts and I suppose it’s just about being able to produce it on the day to get us over the line.
“Hopefully we can get it right this year.
“There’s a lot to be appreciated about the five Leinsters but you want to reach the pinnacle at the end of the day.”
SEMI-FINAL PAIN
Last year’s All-Ireland semi- final loss to Clare still lingers in the background.
The Cats were 1-10 to 0-8 ahead at half-time before a stunning Banner comeback saw them lose out 0-24 to 2-16.
Brian Lohan’s men went on to lift Liam MacCarthy after an epic final triumph over Cork that went to the death in extra-time.
It left Keoghan and Kilkenny wondering what could have been. He said: “It was very disappointing for us.
“Watching them go on and win the All-Ireland was not easy.
“Even still, we probably look back on it there and look for improvement and even some of the stuff is probably still showing up.
“We have room for improvement there definitely and I suppose how we let the game slip away from us after probably a strong enough first half was . . . it’s a killer to look back on.
“We have lots of room for improvement there this year and hopefully we can go a step further.”
But Keoghan was able to return to club action with his native Tullaroan soon after — and that helped to ease the pain.
He added: “After a loss like that, you want to go into something to try and get you going.
“It was nice to get back with Tullaroan.
“Playing with your friends is always really good craic and there was good banter around the place.
“I suppose we have a good group of players with Tullaroan that are trying to win.
“We had that aim and there were targets there with Tullaroan to achieve as well.
“So going back in, I suppose to put the Kilkenny season behind you, it’s a help as well.”
FINE FORM
Tullaroan reached the last eight of the Kilkenny SHC before losing to Bennettsbridge.
Since then, Keoghan has fired 2-13 in Kilkenny’s four NHL games to date.
He rattled the net twice in their win over Wexford.
The Cats have won two and lost two ahead of Sunday’s clash with Tipperary.
And Keoghan hopes his fine form keeps going against the Premier County.
But he wants to make Nowlan Park a happy home again.
His 0-7 haul against Galway last month was not enough to stop a 2-19 to 1-19 loss there and their home form will be paramount come Championship time.
He said: “We do have a bit of improving to go.
“If you’ve seen a few of our league games, we’re not the finished article yet.
“I’m really looking forward to the match this weekend now, especially in Nowlan Park.
“We probably need to make it more of a fortress for us because home matches are so important in the league.
“Then come the Championship round-robin format, you need to make the most of home matches.
“We probably let ourselves down a bit in our last home match against Galway.
“But we have home matches now against Tipp and then against Limerick.
“We really need to put huge emphasis on them.
“We really want to be coming out on top to aim for a league final. That’s our aim.”
