Kilkenny 2-23
Dublin 0-16
KILKENNY ENDED DUBLIN’S unbeaten start to the season with a comprehensive 13-point away victory to propel them to the top of Division 1B.
Brian Cody’s men led by six at half-time and two goals early within 15 minutes of the restart put the game to bed. This was by far Kilkenny’s best display of the season. They hadn’t caught fire in the league before today but controlled this tie for long spells and were comfortably the better team.
They simply worked harder than Dublin and were well on top in defence. Walter Walsh (1-3), used in a roaming full-forward role, and Padraig Walsh (0-4) did most of the damage in attack.
This was Dublin’s first loss of the season between the Walsh Cup and league. It was a much subdued display in comparison with their opening round draw with Waterford at Parnell Park.
It may be the case that Dublin underwent a heavy bock of training this week with one eye on the championship. Mattie Kenny’s side struggled to win primary possession on the half-forward line and were unable to give their inside attackers a decent supply of ball.
A minute silence was held before throw-in for Paul Shefflin, the former Ballyhale hurler and brother of Kilkenny great Henry who passed away suddenly yesterday.
An interesting aspect of the Kilkenny team was the use of Cillian Buckley on the half-forward line.
Dublin were surprisingly flat in the opening half. They had only five points on the board by that stage, 0-3 from play, and registered seven wides. The Kilkenny defence was well on top for long spells. Paddy Deegan sprayed some good ball into the attack in a half-back line that managed to shut down Dublin’s key trio of Donal Burke, Riain McBride and Danny Sutcliffe.
Alan Murphy’s free-taking helped Kilkenny surge ahead early on as Cian Kenny and centre-forward Padraig Walsh also found the range. Dublin failed to score from play for the final 22 minutes of the half as Kilkenny outpointed them by five points during that spell.
Walsh started causing problems when he drove at the home defence, assisting Martin Keoghan’s point before he clipped over himself.
Wing-back Blanchfield landed his first long-range strike of the day to hand the Cats a six-point interval lead.
The Sky Blues had the ideal start to the second-half when they shot the first three scores, but Walter Walsh’s well-taken goal in the 44th minute put a halt to their momentum.
That started a Kilkenny run of 2-3 without reply with Martin Keoghan firing in their second goal after a great run and asset by John Donnelly. Padraig Walsh brought his tally to four with a long distance point as wing-backs Mikey Carey and David Blanchfield contributed 0-5 between them.
Blanchfield looks like a good find for Cody. He’s a big unit, fantastic in the air and has a long-range score in the locker. His man Danny Sutcliffe did come into the game in the final quarter and fired over three points.
Donal Burke brought his tally to 0-9 with a handful of frees, but Kilkenny were home and hosed by that stage.
Scorers for Kilkenny: Walter Walsh 1-3, Alan Murphy 0-5 (0-4f), Padraig Walsh 0-4, Martin Keoghan 1-1, David Blanchfield 0-3, Mikey Carey and Billy Ryan 0-2 each, Cian Kenny, Cillian Buckley and John Donnelly 0-1 each.
Scorers for Dublin: Donal Burke 0-9 (0-5f, 0-2 65), Danny Sutcliffe 0-3, Ronan Hayes 0-2, Riain McBride and Paul Crummey 0-1 each.
Kilkenny
1. Eoin Murphy
2. Mikey Butler (O’Loughlin Gaels), 3. Huw Lawlor (O’Loughlin Gaels), 4. Tommy Walsh (Tullaroan)
5. Mikey Carey (Young Irelands), 6. Paddy Deegan (O’Loughlin Gaels), 7. David Blanchfield (Bennetsbridge)
8. Cian Kenny (James Stephens), 9. Alan Murphy (Glenmore)
18. Cillian Buckley (Discoboro), 11. Padraig Walsh (Tullaroan), 12. Tom Phelan (Conahy Shamrocks)
10. Walter Walsh (Tullogher Rosbercon), 14. Billy Ryan (Graigue-Ballycallan), 15. Martin Keoghan (Tullaroan)
Subs
22. John Donnelly (Thomastown) for Whelan (34)
19. James Maher (St Lachtain’s) for Kenny (45)
Dublin
1. Sean Brennan (Cuala)
2. Andrew Dunphy (St Brigi’ds) 19. Sean Moran (Cuala), 4. Cian O’Callaghan (Cuala)
7. James Madden (Ballyboden St Enda’s), 6. Paddy Smyth (Clontarf),5. John Bellew (Lucan Sarsfields)
8. Conor Burke (St Vincent’s), 9. Chris Crummey (Lucan Sarsfields)
12. Danny Sutcliffe (St Jude’s), 11. Riain McBride (St Vincent’s), 10. Donal Burke (Na Fianna)
13. Fergal Whitely (Kilmacud Crokes), 14. Ronan Hayes (Kilmacud Crokes) 15. Aidan Mellett (Ballyboden St Enda’s)
Subs
23. Eamonn Dillon (St Finbarrs) for Whitely (46)
21. Jake Malone (Cuala) for Smyth (51)
17. Donnacha Ryan (St Brigid’s) for Moran (53)
25. Paul Crummey (Lucan Sarsfields) for Hayes (59)
24. Colin Currie (Na Fianna) for Mellett (62)
Referee: Paul O’Dwyer (Carlow)