EVEN if Cork had beaten Tipperary in the Munster final, the All-Ireland was always the ultimate goal for the U20s this season.

A brilliant late goal from Jake Morris denied Denis Ring’s side in Semple Stadium, but now the provincial runners-up are fully focused on Leinster kingpins Kilkenny.

The Rebels face the Cats at 2pm on Saturday in Portlaoise and ace forward Brian Turnbull explained it wasn’t hard to reset after the loss to the Premier.

“The All-Ireland was always the ultimate goal. Last year (when the grade was U21) we won the Munster title and no one was talking about that at the end of the year when we lost the All-Ireland final.

“In Cork you are judged on All-Irelands and everyone in our group knows that.”

Turnbull came back from a cruciate injury to feature in the decider 12 months ago and was the marquee man in attack in 2017 when the minors fell short in Croke Park against Galway.

“By the time we left the dressing room in Thurles last week we were going away in a positive mind. Straight away after we were told there was no point in feeling sorry for ourselves. Of course the fans and everyone was disappointed with the way we lost to Tipp, but we were weren’t as bad as we were told, and Tipp weren’t as good as they were told.

“There was only a point in it and that’s all it was ever going to be because we’d played them all the way up at every level.”

They’d didn’t meet Kilkenny with the same regularity, though they defeated the Black and Amber in an U16 All-Ireland blitz final and faced them earlier this season in a challenge.

“We’ll focus on getting ourselves right and not get caught up in what the result will be. That’s the best way to approach any game.”

The Douglas native, speaking at the Bord Gáis Energy preview, revealed they aren’t concerned about the added pressure as the last Cork team left in hurling action.

“We want to move away from all the doom and gloom. It’s a chance to show what we’re about in front of a big crowd because there will be a lot of supporters going up for the footballers in their All-Ireland final against Dublin.

“People can say what they want but we believe in ourselves.”

He was an interested observer of the senior semi-finals last weekend when Kilkenny ace Adrian Mullen nailed four points from play.

“They were two unreal games, different from Munster with the physicality. They really showed the importance of being able to win your own ball.”

The Rebels will need to do the same to get past Kilkenny.