Sunday, June 23: Leinster Championship, semi-final – Dublin 0-9 Kilkenny 2-21 (Portlaoise)
KILKENNY OPENED THEIR championship account with a ruthless performance to see off Dublin in style and ease into an eighth Leinster final on the bounce. Anthony Daly’s side took an early lead through scores from Paul Ryan and Danny Sutcliffe but once TJ Reid collected Richie Power’s pass and powered his shot beyond a helpless Gary Maguire on 17 minutes, the Cats didn’t look back. A second goal, this time from Power, put them nine points ahead and the game was effectively over by half-time. 18 points was the difference in it at final whistle but it could’ve been more had Maguire not pulled off a number of excellent saves late on.
Kilkenny: D Herity; P Murphy, JJ Delaney, J Tyrrell; T Walsh, B Hogan, R Doyle; C Buckley, P Hogan (0-2); H Shefflin (0-10), TJ Reid (1-2), E Larkin (0-2); C Fennelly, R Power (1-3), R Hogan (0-2). Subs: N Hickey for JJ Delaney (49), A Fogarty for C Buckley (55), M Ruth for C Fennelly (57), K Joyce for T Walsh (62), J Tennyson for B Hogan (69).
Dublin: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, T Brady; S Hiney, J Boland, M Carton; J McCaffrey, S Durkin; C McCormack, D Sutcliffe (0-1), C Keaney ; P Ryan (0-4), L Rushe, R O’Dwyer (0-1). Subs: D Treacy (0-1) for C Keaney (15), R Trainor for N Corcoran (29), A McCrabbe (0-1) for C McCormack (35), R O’Carroll for S Durkin (HT), D O’Callaghan (0-1) for P Ryan (50)
Sunday, July 8: Leinster Championship, final – KILKENNY 2-11 Galway 2-12 (Croke Park)
Having comfortably disposed of Galway when the two sides met in a Lesinter SHC final for the first time back in 2010, the reigning champions were expected to do the same in July. They were in for a shock, however. Second best from start to finish, Kilkenny had no answers for Galway’s brilliance with Portumna star Joe Canning in sensational form – scoring 1-10 on the day.
Galway: J Skehill; F Moore, K Hynes, J Coen; D Collins (0-01), T Og Regan, N Donoghue; I Tannian, A Smyrg; N Burke (0-01), D Burke (1-02), D Hayes (0-01); J Canning (1-10), C Cooney, C Donnellan (0-06). Subs: J Glynn for Cooney (53 mins), J Regan for Tannian (57 mins), T Haran for N Burke (61 mins), J Cooney for Donnellan (70 mins).
Kilkenny: D Herity; P Murphy, N Hickey, J Tyrell; T Walsh, B Hogan, R Doyle; C Buckley, P Hogan; H Shefflin (1-08), TJ Reid, E Larkin; C Fennelly, R Power (0-02), R Hogan (1-00). Subs: A Fogarty for C Fennelly (23 mins), M Rice (0-01) for P Hogan (27 mins), M Ruth for Reid (58 mins).
Sunday, August 19: All-Ireland, semi-final – Tipperary 1-15 KILKENNY 4-24
Buoyed by the return of influential trio JJ Delaney, Michael Fennelly and Aidan Fogarty to the starting line-up, Kilkenny showed no signs of a Leinster final hangover as they bounced back to crush their arch-rivals Tipperary 4-24 to 1-15. A combination of last-ditch defending and wasteful finishing meant the Premier County actually led by a point at the break. However, Kilkenny outscored their opponents by 3-10 in a dominant second half performance. Tommy Walsh successfully contained Lar Corbett with the former Hurler of the Year unable to manage a single score, while Jackie Tyrell thrived on the physical battle with Pa Bourke (relive that sideshow here).
Not one of Brian Cody’s All-Ireland triumphs as a manager has come from the backdoor but he will now add that to his glittering CV if he can put right the Leinster final defeat on September 9.
Tipperary: B Cummins; C O’Brien, P Curran, M Cahill; T Stapleton, C O’Mahony (0-1), Padraic Maher; B Maher, S McGrath (0-1); P Bourke (1-8), Patrick Maher, L Corbett; B O’Meara, J O’Brien (0-1), N McGrath (0-2). Subs: S Bourke for B O’Meara (46), P Stapleton for T Stapleton (46), D Maher for P Curran (61), J O’Neill (0-2) for J O’Brien (63), J Woodlock for B Maher (66).
Kilkenny: D Herity; P Murphy, JJ Delaney, J Tyrrell; T Walsh, B Hogan (0-1), K Joyce; M Fennelly (0-1), M Rice (0-1); H Shefflin (0-11), TJ Reid (2-2), E Larkin (1-0); C Fennelly (0-1), R Power (0-3), A Fogarty (1-3). Subs: C Buckley (0-1) for M Rice (19), R Doyle for P Murphy (64), N Hickey for K Joyce (64), M Ruth for C Fennelly (64), C Fogarty for A Fogarty (67).
Watch The Sunday Game analysis of the semi-final below:
YouTube credit: JSGAA
Sunday, September 9: All-Ireland, final – KILKENNY ?-?? GALWAY ?-??
