STR9 getting minutes to a variable
Does the example code you pasted at the top work - the LCD shows [h]h[m]m[s]s? If so, there is no clear reason to believe, based on the limited information you've provided, that the second code snippet shouldn't work as well...

Maybe try using the same exact format string?

y = time.minutes;
sprintf(text, "Minutes: %2d",y);
lcd_print (text); 


Perhaps your compiler doesn't support the leading zeros formatting option (i.e. %0)?

If, however, your original snippet doesn't work either, it seems very likely that you are fundamentally failing to communicate with the RTC in the first place.