IT is testament to how far Ballyboden St Enda's have come under Liam Hogan that their ambitions end not with another successful Dublin SHC title but with a further proper crack at Leinster.

We say 'proper' because, as the Firhouse men themselves will testify, last year's effort in the AIB Leinster club hurling championship is best filed under 'non-event' for Hogan and his team.

Their maiden voyage into Leinster in 2007 had seen them bull their way past Oulart-the-Ballagh and Camross and into a Leinster final wherein they were beaten, albeit narrowly, by a slightly craftier, infinitely more experienced Birr team in Tullamore.

A year on, upon completion of the second leg of their three Dublin hurling titles in-a-row, and looking a year stronger and sleeker, Birr again were offered.

This time, it was as first round opposition and, perhaps as significantly, in Parnell Park. Conal Keaney, a participant on the day, takes up the story.

"We thought just because we ran them close one year, we were going to do the same -- if not beat them -- the next," he reflects.

"We maybe took our foot off the pedal a bit. We had run them pretty close the previous year, but they gave us a bit of a trimming in Parnell Park, and then Ballyhale gave them a bit of a beating."

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Thus, a harsh lesson was learned. Taking anything for granted in hurling is hara-kiri, even aside from the notorious climatic variables which make the club championships so unpredictable.

"This year, if anything, we've stepped up a gear in training since we've won the county and are just really looking forward to playing," Keaney adds.

"It's been a challenge for us before just to win in Dublin and that was an achievement in itself.

"But now, when we get out of Dublin, we're really looking to see what we can do and see if we can compete with these teams.

"Everyone wants to challenge themselves on the hurling field and no better place than Nowlan Park on Sunday."

Ah, Nowlan Park on Sunday. Given the black and amber-dominated hurling climate in which we live, the realisation of such a date might ordinarily carry a sense of trepidation.

Certainly, in the past, such a fixture might even strike fear into the bones of a Dublin hurling side, but the green shoots seen recently sprouting about the capital, and Boden in particular, have have softened that mindset.

"That comes with underage," notes Keaney, who himself was involved in the Dublin Colleges defeat of mighty St Kieran's in 2001 in a Leinster Colleges A final, a win widely considered to be the starting point for the recent underage renaissance.

"A lot of the lads there have come from successful minor teams who have beaten Kilkenny and really know that they can compete. That's what it's all about. Once you get that confidence in the team that you can compete at a certain level, it's a huge factor going into the game.

"In the club itself, there's a huge amount of talent coming through.

"Every year I come back from playing from Dublin, and you're wondering, 'Where did this fella come from?'

"Eventually, there's going to be a few lads pushing you out of the team. At the moment, it's about trying to hold down your own position on the team. The strength of our bench is huge. It would be as good as any other team in the country."

For Keaney, this winter has been an enjoyable if somewhat cluttered addendum to a typical year. Another Leinster football title, another club county hurling success.

His schedule, though, has been all the more crammed due to the somewhat unexpected club-football success, and all the draws and replays contained therein.

Working as sales manager for Avon Rí, and attracting companies and teams to its leisure resort and sporting retreat in Blessington, takes up most of his day. Training, recovery and matches occupy Keaney's evenings. Plus, he became a father for the first time last year.

But as he explains, spending the past two winters watching, somewhat enviously, St Vincent's and Kilmacud Crokes extend their seasons into the new year, it has sharpened his winter ambitions on both fronts.

"Every club in Dublin was supporting Vincent's and Crokes when they won Leinster and went on to win the All-Ireland," Keaney notes. "It's a great achievement but, ultimately, every player wants to do it for themselves and do it for their own club.

"And we're in a situation now to compete and maybe go on and challenge in Leinster. It's great.

"At the end of the day, everyone wants to win an All-Ireland. One way to do it is with your county. The second way to do it is with your club. And we're definitely on the right road."

This Sunday, that road takes them to Nowlan Park and a meeting with Ballyhale. Shefflin, 'Cha', TJ, Fennelly -- they're household names, top-class hurlers and enormously successful.

But Boden are determined not to leave Kilkenny with another set of regrets, because having turned the Dublin hurling title into their sole preserve over the past three years, Keaney and his teammates are looking now at the wider picture.

"You have to take into consideration that they have a lot of the best hurlers in the country on their team," he admits. "But we know that if we perform, we should be here or thereabouts. If you get the breaks, you could come out with the result.

"When you look at the Ballyhale team, you'd know everyone on their team from the Shefflins to the Reids to the Fennellys, so we're going to be up against it.

It's a Kilkenny team and they're a hugely successful team and I think most lads from that team who have played with Kilkenny have won All-Irelands and All Stars and Player of the Year awards.

"We've nothing to lose but we'll certainly give it a good crack."

- Conor McKeon