KILKENNY ARE THE Leinster minor hurling champions for a 60th time after sealing a four-point victory over Dublin, winning 1-13 to 1-9.
Ollie O’Donovan’s brilliant individual goal in the 48th minute was the clinching score as he weaved through the defence to bat home.
Kilkenny didn’t score again but they didn’t need to as the Dubs landed the final three points.
An Eoghan Brennan goal in the 12th minute put Dublin ahead 1-3 to 0-4 after a Rory Flannery shot rebounded in front of the posts.
But Kilkenny responded with four points in a row, including three from Jake Mullen, to lead 0-9 to 1-4 at the break. The Ballyhale Shamrocks forward finished with 0-7, six of those coming in the opening half.
Their defensive solidity was enough to hold out as Bill McDermott collected the Hanrahan Cup.
They progress to an All-Ireland semi-final, joining Munster champions Tipperary in the final four.
The quarter-finalists will comprise Dublin, Clare, Galway, and Wexford after the latter pair won their preliminary quarter-finals at Semple Stadium.
Seán O’Brien racked up 1-9 as Wexford overpowered Cork in a 2-16 to 1-10 win. Adam O’Connell Byrne added 1-2 and Colin Carley contributed 0-3.
They played into a strong wind in the first half but were a model of accurate shooting with a 91% conversion rate from 11 shots.
Their opening goal arrived in the 21st minute. Darren Rossiter broke Cathal Sinnott’s delivery down for O’Brien and he took a big hit before offloading for O’Connell Byrne to finish.
It was enough for a 1-9 to 0-6 interval lead and that cushion was never closed.
Rhys Wickham almost had a first-touch goal but was denied by an incredible Adam Lee save but he teed up O’Brien to bury to the net in the first minute of stoppage time.
Cork trailed by 12 until Joe Twohig’s consolation goal with the final puck after Peter Barrett’s shot was deflected onto the crossbar by Eoin Hughes.
Earlier, goals from Cillian Roche and Brian Callanan saw Galway past Waterford with a 2-16 to 1-6 win.
The Déise had the wind in the first half but mustered just two points to trail by six and the Westerners put their foot down from there.
In the fourth minute of first-half stoppages, Roche profited from a defensive error, ducked inside three back-tracking defenders, and stitched the sliotar to the far corner. 1-5 to 0-2 at half-time.
Galway jumped 10 ahead by the 37th minute. When a Seán Kelly free was driven in low, Callanan was quickest onto the break and hammered it down the middle. A Roche point made it 2-7 to 0-3.
Callanan ended with 1-7 and was fouled for four of his converted frees, while Roche chipped in with 1-2.
Waterford’s 40th-minute goal arrived when Mark Hartley’s point attempt dipped under the crossbar and into the net. Two Ben Cummins frees made it a six-point game, 2-9 to 1-6, but Galway reeled off the final seven points.