Not so long ago, Tipperary midfielder Kieran Bergin was watching his team-mates from a bar in San Francisco.

Winner of a Munster MHC alongside the likes of James Woodlock, Paddy Stapleton and soccer international Shane Long in 2003, 27-year-old Bergin subsequently spent five years in New York and two more in San Francisco.

But he now looks a cert to start this year's national hurling league final at midfield for the Premier County against Kilkenny:

"To be honest, I spent a lot of years over in America in bars watching boys that I am playing with now," the Killenaule dual players says in The Irish Daily Mirror.

"I never thought when I came back I would get the opportunity to get even in for a trial. So to be in the starting XV most days is great.

"It's a great opportunity. It's changed my whole lifestyle, from being in a pub drinking every weekend watching the games to having a healthier outlook on life even.

"I am happy in the position I am in and I can't complain. Tweet

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