NAME: Don Hyland DATE OF BIRTH: 28/1/73 HEIGHT: 5'10" WEIGHT: 101/2 stone CLUB: Carnew Emmets COUNTY: Wicklow HONOURS: 3 All-Ireland medals - 2 Feile na nGael '85 & '86; 1 Colleges DIT '92; 2 county senior; 3 county minor; 2 county Under 21; 1 Under 21 Leinster B INTER-COUNTY DEBUT: 1990 Wicklow v Armagh, first round of B Championship PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Carnew with family haulage business TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Johnny Nevin, Carlow FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Croke Park, Cusack Park, Mullingar FAVOURITE POSITION: Midfield/centre forward SPORTING AMBITION: To play in an All-Ireland hurling final with Wicklow DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER SPORTS: I'm interested in all sports, but I don't play any other sports really - hurling is my God BOYHOOD HEROES: Billy Fitzpatrick, John Fenton, Liam Currans, Nicky English and my cousin Denis Kilbride FAVOURITE PLAYERS (CLUB AND COUNTY): Carnew: Mulroe Bros, D Kilbride, J O'Sullivan Kiltegan: Tom and Sean Byrne BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: My family, my father Edward, my mother Breda, my sister Mary WAYS OF IMPROVING THE GAME: Open Draw in hurling championship as there is in the football at the moment BEST GAME SEEN: All-Ireland final 1990, Cork v Galway PLAYERS WITH A PROMISING FUTURE: Cathal Moran, Galway; Brian Corcoran, Cork; Barry Egan, Cork HOPES FOR 1993: To win All-Ireland B hurling YOU ARE AN ALL-IRELAND MEDAL HOLDER: Yes, I won two All-Ireland Feile na Gael medals and last year DIT College won the All-Ireland League and I was lucky to be playing midfield on that team, beating Cork RTC which included players Brian Corcoran and Barry Egan ALSO, YOU WERE TOP MARKSMAN FOR THE WICKLOW HURLERS IN 1992: I surpassed my own expectations YOUR MOTHER'S FAMILY ARE HIGHLY INVOLVED IN GAA AFFAIRS IN THE GARDEN COUNTY: Yes, my mother's brother Jack Kilbride is very involved in the GAA in Wicklow and Carnew. He's Chairman of our club in Carnew and is also a county selector. He played both hurling and football for Carnew and Wicklow and has won numerous medals in all grades of hurling and football. His son Denis is also a member of the club and county teams. Denis has achieved a lot winning county championship medals in all grades and All-Ireland medals, colleges hurling and football YOUR FATHER IS A LAOISMAN, HAD HE A BIG INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER: Yes, a huge influence, almost every Sunday from the time I could walk he brought me to matches both club and county and never missed the All-Ireland hurling finals. As a hurler himself he always has a quiet word of advice and I always looked up to him. His family has a strong hurling tradition. He came to Carnew as a minor and played for club and county winning medals in all grades. To me he is a most dedicated man to his club, county and the association YOUR CLUB, CARNEW, WERE BEATEN IN LAST YEAR'S WICKLOW COUNTY FINAL: We were beaten in the final by St Patricks Wicklow and it is one game I will never forget. It was hard to believe when the final whistle sounded that we had lost. After being one point behind at half time and going out in the second half playing with a very strong wind. A lot of our team had won the championship in '89 and '91 and we hadn't experienced losing a final. As a team we were not determined or hungry enough to win on the day. We made up for our loss a month later when we beat St. Patrick's in the Under 21 final TELL US ABOUT YOUR CLUB: Carnew Emmets is one of the strongest hurling clubs in Wicklow. In 1965 Carnew won their first county senior championship and have won 13 since. We are also senior in football. Carnew has faded in the football ranks since they last won in 1973 (also won the hurling in '73). But we're working on that ANY OTHER PAST OR PRESENT COUNTY PLAYER WHO WORE THE CARNEW EMMETS JERSEY: Past: B Hillard, J Kilbride, R O'Shea, The Callins, The Doyles, The Brennans in hurling and Martin Daran was a well known intercounty footballer, to mention but a few. Present: Vinnie and Tommy Mulroe, Denis Kilbride (hurling) and David Gordan (football) YOUR COUSIN ALSO PLAYS WITH THE WICKLOW SENIOR HURLERS: Yes, Denis Kilbride is now a long term member of the Wicklow team, although he is only 28 years. He came straight out of minor ranks to play both football and hurling for Wicklow senior teams. He has held his position, full back with Carnew and Wicklow over these years, and I always look up to him YOU MADE YOUR COUNTY DEBUT AS A TEENAGER. WAS IT A NERVE-WRACKING OCCASION: My first county senior game was in 1990, a championship match against Armagh. I was a goalkeeper that day and I was never as nervous before. We were also playing at home in front of a big crowd. We drew the match and lost the replay DO YOU PLAY FOOTBALL: Yes, but not very much. When I'm involved with the county hurlers, it's all hurling and I miss out on a lot of League football games. But I much prefer playing hurling. I played a lot of football in FCJ Secondary School, Bunclody under the guidance of PE teacher Rory Kinsella and enjoyed the game IS HURLING STRONG IN WICKLOW: In Wicklow we take championship very seriously, and there is a lot of rivalry between teams and a lot of hard work and training by players and everybody involved HOW MANY HURLING CLUBS IN THE COUNTY: Approximately 14. Including senior, junior and intermediate YOU TAKE THE FREES FOR CLUB AND COUNTY. CONFIDENCE IS OBVIOUSLY A BIG PART OF YOUR GAME: Free taking is a skill which requires the same approach as regards concentration, lifting and striking which leads to confidence. I don't really enjoy being a free taker, but when they are going over the bar it's not bad! OLD KILKENNY HERO AND NEW WICKLOW MANAGER JOHN HENDERSON, HAS HE CREATED A BIG IMPRESSION WITH THE PLAYERS: Yes. The commitment has improved by 100% since he took over and I believe it's only the beginning. We have been very unlucky so far, but with a little luck this year we could go far under the guidance of this great man THE SUCCESS OF THE WICKLOW FOOTBALLERS JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS MUST HAVE BEEN A BIG BOOST FOR THE GAA IN THE COUNTY: It has but it also has put a lot of pressure on the football team for the coming championship because so many supporters were so disappointed after their defeat by Kildare last year THE OLD ADAGE ABOUT HURLING BEING A DIRTY GAME IN WICKLOW. IS THIS AN OLD WIVES TALE: This is definitely an old wives tale. Hurling in Wicklow is more on the timid side than anything else. The difference between club hurling and intercounty hurling is huge. County hurling is much more tougher, dirtier WICKLOW HURLERS TO MAKE THE BREAKTHROUGH AND TO TAKE THE ALL-IRELAND B CROWN IN 1993: If we get past the first round of the championship, who knows after that? Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 5th February 1993 Vol 3 No 5 Tweet

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