Next Sunday our U-21 hurlers take on Thurles Sarsfields in Rd 3 of the Mid Championship in the outside field in Thurles with a 1 pm throw-in. The way things have panned out over the last week this is in effect a Mid Semi-final for Brackens. A win or a draw will see the Sars advance to the final while Brackens must win assuming Holycross triumph against an already eliminated Moycarkey/Borris. Should Brackens and Holycross win they will join Sars on four points. As Brackens already have a superior score difference to the Blues victory will guarantee progress while the tally men will then have to decide between the other two. Last Tuesday night in Littleton saw us produce an excellent performance to easily account for Moycarkey on a 3-23 to 1-8 scoreline. Saturday in Holycross was an entirely different story as a slow start saw us eight down early on ( 1-6 to 0-1) before two Andrew Ormond goals saw us close the gap to four at the break ( 1-13 to 2-6 ). An equally slow start to the second half saw us fall nine behind ( 2-15 to 2-6 ) but to their credit the lads hurled a storm for the next fifteen minutes with Lorcan Roche's goal helping us to draw level with ten minutes to go. ( 2-17 to 3-14 ). Scores dried up at both ends as legs began to tire with a couple of late Darragh Woods frees nudging Holycross over the line (2-20 to 3-15). Plenty of time to reset and focus the minds. Knockout from here on. The Blues await. Can't wait.