Scrooge-like defence to again make the difference

This week as he prepares his side for one of Trim's biggest hurling games in the history of the club, manager Jimmy Canty won't be short of material if he wants to highlight the dangers Bray Emmets pose in Saturday's Leinster Club IHC showdown at Aughrim, 1pm.

He could, for starters, point to the fact that the Emmets have dominated Wicklow hurling in recent years winning four SHC titles in a row. He could also point out to his players how the Garden County side have achieved some startling results in this year's competition so far with one reporter in the Garden County calling them "the giant-killers of the Leinster Club Intermediate Championship."

That's a label, of course, Trim could claim as their own having knocked out Danesfort in their opening round tie - but certainly the Emmets have compelling evidence to put forward if they wanted to push their claim to be termed the 'real' giant-killers.

On their way to Saturday's showdown Wicklow side chalked up an eyebrow-raising result when they defeated Laois side Abbeyleix. That 'surprise' was transformed into an out and out shock when, next time out, the Wicklow side got the better of Dublin side Naomh Barrog, who had defeated famous Wexford outfit Oulart-the-Ballagh, no less, in their opening round game.

The World Cup in Qatar is not the only tournament, it is clear, where strong favourites are living a precarious existence and where the minnows, the underdogs, are asserting themselves with victories only a clairevoyant could predict.

The Emmets, one of the most famous names in the pantheon of Wicklow GAA, are managed by a Wexford man Paul Carley who has done something many coaches seek to achieve but relatively few manage to succeed in doing. He has turned a group of players into a well-prepared, well-structured formidable force with the employment of some clever strategies clearly among the reasons why they have progress so far.

They have, as every good team should have, a fine marksman in Christy Moorehouse, a name familiar in Wicklow hurling circles down the years. He scored 10 points in the dismantling of Naomh Barrog while Michael Boland and Mark Lennon are others who will have to be carefully monitored by the Meath champions if reports of the Emmets' previous games are anything to go by.

Those reports from sources in the Garden County indicate the Emmets will employ attacking and defensive strategies when they need to - and can do both very well. In other words they will be a handful. Difficult to subdue.

Yet despite all the Wicklow side bring to the table, Trim have very sound reasons to go into Saturday's final feeling optimistic.

That win over Danesfort will long be remembered among hurling folk in the club. The day when Richie Hogan, Paul Murphy and their ilk were humbled in the home of Kilkenny hurling, Nowlan Park. Special.

Victories like that must give a team a huge sense of self worth, not that Trim were lacking in that department before they took on the famed Kilkenny side. If they were they would have succumbed to Danesfort's concerted efforts to cast them aside. They didn't.

Trim's journey to a Leinster final has been built on a defensive sturdiness similar to the walls of the Norman castle in the town; strong, lasting, robust. To restrict Danesfort to a modest 15 points indicates that, with the aforementioned Hogan getting only two points from play.

The manner in which they shut out Tullamore in the semi-final was another demonstration of that defensive fortitude; their ability to man the battlements with telling effect.

Only one Tullamore player managed to score that day, Shane Dooley, and none of his 1-8 came from play. What a shutout. What fortitude.

To garner scores themselves Trim have James Murray, the prolific youngster who is an expert marksman from frees and sideline cuts. He has an ankle issue but he should play.

Trim are not short of firepower elsewhere. They have players like Mikey Cole, who got three points against Tullamore, Joey Cole, David Murtagh, Dylan Farrell, Pa Ryan, Alan Douglas who are all capable of turning chances into scores.

Bray Emmets will have a strategy to close down James Toher and not allow him to be as influential as he normally is. The thing about Trim is they have quality players all over the pitch; players who can step up to the plate if needed.

It's one of the reasons why they have got this far - and why they can land the Leinster title in the heart of the Wicklow mountains.