McGrath Cup
Kerry 0-14 Clare 0-13
Tipperary 2-14 Waterford 0-7
Walsh Cup
Kilkenny 2-19 Offaly 0-21
Wexford 0-18 Laois 0-20
THE KILKENNY HURLERS began life under new manager Derek Lyng with a win over Offaly in the Wash Cup, with Ian Byrne and Tom Phelan grabbing crucial goals to seal the victory.
Byrne rattled the net to push the Cats into a six-point lead after 14 minutes but Offaly kept in touch, and were just four points adrift at half-time after a late free from Cillian Kiely.
Three more Kiely frees reduced the deficit to one shortly after the restart before Ross Ravenhill produced the equaliser in the 44th minute. But it was Kilkenny who advanced to victory, with Phelan hitting their second goal to ultimately seal the result.
Elsewhere in the Walsh Cup, Laois also made a winning start to a new era as they recorded an impressive win over Wexford.
Willie Maher began his reign as the new Laois boss with a two-point victory after building up a three-point advantage at half-time.
The sides traded scores throughout the second-half before Jordan Walshe and Mossy Keyes fired over late points to help secure the win for Laois.
In the McGrath Cup, All-Ireland champions Kerry rallied to narrowly overcome Clare at Austin Stack Park thanks to two late points from Darragh Roche. The Banner built up a 0-11 to 0-7 lead late in the second half and looked to be on course for victory before Kerry rattled off crucial points from, Tony Brosnan Tom O’Sullivan and Ronan Buckley to level the tie.
Brosnan top-scored with 0-6 as Kerry survived to edge the win.
In the other McGrath Cup game, Tipperary picked up a big win over Waterford.
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