Dublin 0-17
Kilkenny 1-14
A LAST-GASP TJ Reid point saved Kilkenny from a Leinster Championship semi-final exit at the hands of Dublin in Portlaoise today.
Anthony Daly’s men defied their rank outsider tag and a stiff second half wind to push the reigning All Ireland Champions all the way to a 0-17 to 1-14 draw.
Walter Walsh scored the only goal of the game at a time Dublin threatened to pull clear in the second half. The forward (with 1-04 from play) was also by far the Cats’ most impressive performer on a day the unit struggled to find a rhythm.
Dublin too had plenty of room for improvement, particularly in the first half where they failed to turn a strong breeze at their backs into a half time advantage.
Eoin Larkin opened the scoring with the first of his seven frees after Paul Ryan had hit the first of 10 first half wides for the boys in blue. Ryan also passed up a gilt-edged goal opportunity minutes later and he would pay the price on 18 minutes when Dotsy O’Callaghan took his place on the field.
By that stage Joey Boland (0-09) had already squared the game after an initial burst of three Kilkenny scores. And from that moment in, the game was a frantic tit-for-tat game in which Kilkenny could not impose their usual strangle-hold.
The Cats’ flow was done absolutely no good by the 30th minute injury to fullback Paul Murphy. The redoubtable defende came down heavy on his ankle and looked in distress as he was stretchered from the field.
Boland would point from one of his seven frees shortly after Murphy’s departure to leave the sides level at 0-08 apiece at half time.
Tear up the script
If Dublin had been expected to be soundly beaten in this fixture, that belief was still alive and well in O’Moore Park as they faced the teeth of the wind sweeping in from the Town End.
Dublin hadn’t learned their lines, so that script was torn up and flung in the air as substitute Paul Schutte and Boland opened up a two-point lead. Walsh restored order with his brilliantly taken 42nd minute goal, instantly turning and firing home after receiving a long puck in.
It felt like typical Kilkenny, to viciously stamp down on a feint hope, but in truth that goal was against the run of play. John McCaffrey squared matters again and Anthony Daly showed a keen sense of momentum, introducing another substitute, Shane Durkin, to ensure the wheels kept turning.
Durkin’s first act was to tie the game at 1-09 to 0-12 after Larkin had nudged the Cats in front again with 15 to play.
Another poor Dublin wide and another superb Walsh point gave the Cats a cushion, but As the minutes and seconds went by and another Larkin conversion was matched by a glorious Boland score off his left, blue confidence and swagger took hold.
Conal Keaney stepped forward with expert timing. The Ballyboden man worked for 65 minutes with little reward, but in the final five he threatened to mastermind the biggest upset of the 2013 Championship.
Keaney made it 1-12 to 0-15 and came inches away from following it up, but his shot pinged back off the upright. Dublin would lead in the closing stages, twice, after Keaney won a 20 metre free for Boland to tap over. And the Na Fianna marksman cancelled out Larkin’s response in stoppage time.
The blue shirts and jackets were on their feet and growing hoarse in Portlaoise along with neutrals all over the country, but Kilkenny have many a cool head for an occasion such as this. On this day, none cooler than Reid, who bisected the posts nervelessly with the last puck of the game.
Kilkenny get out of jail, but they’ll still hold all the keys when the sides meet again in Portlaoise next Saturday evening.
KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy (Glenmore); Paul Murphy (Danesfort), JJ Delaney (Fenians), Conor Fogarty (Erins Own); Tommy Walsh (Tullaroan), Brian Hogan (O’Loughlin Gaels), Kieran Joyce (Rower-Inistioge); Lester Ryan (Clara), Michael Rice (Carrickshock), Cillian Buckley (Dicksboro), Richie Power (Carrickshock), Eoin Larkin (James Stephens); Walter Walsh (Tullogher Rosbercon), Richie Hogan (Danesfort), Colin Fennelly (Ballyhale Shamrocks).Subs: P Hogan for P Murphy (33 mins), TJ Reid for Rice (HT), A Fogarty for Fennelly (59), M Ruth for Power (62)
DUBLIN: Gary Maguire (Ballyboden/St Enda’s); Niall Corcoran (Kilmacud Crokes), Peter Kelly (Lucan Sarsfields), Paul Schutte (Cuala); Stephen Hiney (Ballyboden St Enda’s), Liam Rushe (St Patrick’s, Palmerstown), Michael Carton (O’Tooles); John McCaffrey (Lucan Sarsfields, captain), Joseph Boland (Na Fianna); Conal Keaney (Ballyboden St Enda’s), Ryan O’Dwyer (Kilmacud Crokes), Danny Sutcliffe (St Jude’s); Paul Ryan (Ballyboden St Enda’s), David Treacy (Cuala), Conor McCormack (Ballyboden St Enda’s).Subs: D O’Callaghan for Ryan (18 mins), M Schutte for McCormack (HT), S Durkin for Sutcliffe (46), S Lambert for Treacy (57), E Dillon for Hiney (62).
Kilkenny scorers: E Larkin (0-07, frees); W Walsh (1-04), R Hogan (0-02), TJ Reid (0-01).
Dublin scorers: J Boland (0-09, 0-07 frees); C Keaney (0-1), J McCaffrey (0-01), D Sutcliffe (0-01); P Ryan (0-01, free), P Schutte (0-01), D O’Callaghan (0-01), M Schutte (0-01), S Durkin (0-01).
Referee: Johnny Ryan (Tipperary)
