Sunday’s fixtures
Leinster Senior Hurling Final:
FT: Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 1-20
Joe McDonagh Cup Final:
FT: Kildare 2-26 Laois 1-19
Tailteann Cup:
FT: Wexford 5-23 Antrim 2-21
FT: Sligo 1-27 Carlow 2-19
There’ll be more coverage of today’s final later on, with Ian O’Riordan’s match report from Croke Park. There’ll also be further analysis of all the weekend’s hurling on irishtimes.com throughout the next few days. That’s all from me on today’s blog, thanks for joining us for today’s Leinster final.
John Donnelly had a fine showing at wing forward for Kilkenny, and accepted the Bob O’Keefe Cup as captain.
Goalkeeper Eoin Murphy tells RTÉ that Kilkenny were focused on winning the Leinster Championship to get into the semi final of the All-Ireland:
“We’re delighted with the six in a row. That was our main focus point from the very start of the year, we wanted to go through the direct route.”
Kilkenny are through to the All-Ireland semi finals now, while Galway will play a quarter final against the winner of Laois and Tipperary.
Kilkenny are Leinster hurling champions for the sixth time in a row! Galway made a game of it in the latter stages of the second half, but Kilkenny were deserving winners. Likewise, Huw Lawlor was a deserving man of the match.
Full Time: Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 1-20
71 Mins: GOAL for Kilkenny! A bad mistake from the new goalkeeper sees Keoghan profit again. Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 1-20
69 Mins: Huw Lawlor clutches a high ball out of the sky, then drives out of the Kilkenny defence. He hands off to Billy Ryan who pops it over. Cooney makes the gap four again though. Kilkenny 2-21 Galway 1-20
68 Mins: Adrian Mullen takes a shot under pressure when he had men in space beside him. But it goes over anyway, a brilliant score. Cathal Mannion hits back for Galway, another great strike. Kilkenny 2-20 Galway 1-19
66 Mins: Suddenly the energy all around Croke Park is up massively. TJ Brennan scraps away and gets a free for his efforts. Mannion strikes it over and the gap is just four points. Kilkenny 2-19 Galway 1-18
63 Mins: GOAL for Galway! Brian Concannon got the ball a short free from Cathal Mannion and hit the back of the net. Kilkenny 2-19 Galway 1-17
62 Mins: Killeen gets another point for Galway. Kilkenny 2-19 Galway 0-16
60 Mins: Tiernan Killeen scores another for Galway, coming off the bench. That’s three in a row for the Tribesmen. Kilkenny 2-19 Galway 0-15
59 Mins: Galway have their first score from play in the second half from Seán Linnane. Cathal Mannion adds another then. Kilkenny 2-19 Galway 0-14
57 Mins: GOAL for Kilkenny! TJ Reid peels away from Daithí Burke and fires it past the new man in goal, Darragh Walsh. Keoghan did so well to feed the full forward when he could have taken the shot on himself. Kilkenny 2-19 Galway 0-12
55 Mins: A Stephen Donnelly effort sends us to Hawk-Eye, and it’s over the bar again. Kilkenny 1-18 Galway 0-12
52 Mins: Cian Kenny hits another great score. Kilkenny look in control as Martin Keoghan hits a fine score. Kilkenny 1-17 Galway 0-12
50 Mins: Cathal Mannion reduces the gap to five again from a free. Kilkenny 1-14 Galway 0-12
47 Mins: Adrian Mullen has been left in acres of space on multiple occasions today, and this time he punishes Galway with a great score from right out on the sideline. Kilkenny 1-14 Galway 0-11
45 Mins: Cathal Mannion scores a monster of a free, but Cian Kenny hits a quality score in reply. Kilkenny 1-13 Galway 0-11
41 Mins: Billy Ryan plays a somewhat unconventional one-two with Mossy Keoghan and then strikes over from 45 metres. Keoghan did so well to keep hold of the ball under heavy pressure. Mannion points a free for the Tribesmen. Kilkenny 1-12 Galway 0-10
39 Mins: Mikey Carey slings a lovely effort up and over the bar. TJ Reid pops a simple free over to give Kilkenny a bigger cushion. His influence on the game is growing. Kilkenny 1-11 Galway 0-9
37 Mins: Cathal Mannion points a free. Kilkenny 1-9 Galway 0-9
36 Mins: Éanna Murphy has come off after those knocks he got at the end of the first half, with Darragh Walsh replacing him. TJ Reid misses the first shot of the second half. Kilkenny 1-9 Galway 0-8
It’s been a pretty flat first half at Croke Park. Huw Lawlor’s superb display of high catching had been the highlight of the half until Keoghan got the goal.
Half time: Kilkenny 1-9 Galway 0-8
35 Mins: Galway’s Éanna Murphy went down after that goal but carries on. John Donnelly puts a high tackle on the goalkeeper very shortly after and gets a yellow.
33 Mins: GOAL for Kilkenny! A good bit of poaching from Martin Keoghan as he follows in TJ Reid’s saved effort. Kilkenny 1-9 Galway 0-8
30 Mins: Neither side has really got much of a rhythm, and it’s not being helped by the wides that both teams are hitting. Cathal Mannion gets Galway back on track with a free. Kilkenny 0-9 Galway 0-8
27 Mins: David Burke is penalised for throwing the ball, but Reid hits the free wide into Hill 16. Kilkenny 0-9 Galway 0-7
25 Mins: TJ Reid hits back to back frees for the Cats to put them two in front. Kilkenny 0-9 Galway 0-7
22 Mins: Kilkenny get back in front again, but Cathal Mannion replies from long range. Kilkenny 0-7 Galway 0-7
19 Mins: Billy Ryan strikes over the bar. The half forward was left in acres of space. Cian Kenny gets a yellow and Cathal Mannion puts the resulting free wide. Kilkenny 0-6 Galway 0-6
17 Mins: Cathal Mannion hits a beauty from the Hogan side to put Galway in front again. Kilkenny 0-5 Galway 0-6
15 Mins: Kilkenny are winning a lot of the balls into the Galway forward line and break Galway’s early momentum with three scores in a row. Tom Monaghan breaks the Cats’ streak with his own score. Kilkenny 0-5 Galway 0-4
11 Mins: Martin Keoghan shoots an uncharacteristic wide from out near the Cusack stand. After Kilkenny win the ball back Keoghan gets another go and this time slots it over. Kilkenny 0-2 Galway 0-3
7 Mins: TJ Brennan and Cathal Mannion both add points for Galway. Kilkenny 0-1 Galway 0-3
5 Mins: TJ Reid misses a free within his range. Kevin Cooney pops one over from close range. Kilkenny 0-1 Galway 0-1
2 Mins: Kilkenny hit the first point of the game through John Donnelly. Kilkenny 0-1 Galway 0-0
The national anthem is on, and we’re nearly underway at Croke Park.
The last Leinster final between the Cats and the Tribesmen was a classic, with Kilkenny snatching the victory in the final moments with a goal. Galway’s Cathal Mannion didn’t play in that 2023 final, but spoke to Ian O’Riordan about that game and this year’s renewal of the rivalry.
[ Galway’s Cathal Mannion only too aware of Kilkenny’s extra-time threat ]
Galway and Kilkenny have some game to live up to after yesterday’s other provincial final between Cork and Limerick. Both teams are now out warming up with just over 15 minutes left until throw in.
The focus now turns to the Leinster final. Kilkenny’s Adrian Mullen spoke to Gordon Manning during the week about a campaign affected by injuries and being shifted into new positions.
Full time: Kildare 2-26 Laois 1-19. Kildare are the winners of the Joe McDonagh Cup! They’ve beaten Laois by 10 points in Croke Park.
Kildare will face Dublin and Laois will play Tipperary next week in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter finals.
66 Mins: Another goal for Kildare! Jack Sheridan tucks it into the bottom corner and looks to have finished the job for the Lilywhites. Kildare 2-22 Laois 1-17
62 Mins: Kildare hit the back of the net and now lead by seven in the Joe McDonagh final. Kildare 1-22 Laois 1-15
In the McDonagh Cup final, Laois have failed to capitalise on their early second half goal. Kildare battled their way back into the game and now lead by two points with 58 minutes played. Kildare 0-20 Laois 1-15
Malachy Clerkin spoke to Galway captain Conor Whelan ahead of today’s final. The 28 year old spoke about the match up with Kilkenny, as well as opening up on mental health.
[ Galway’s Conor Whelan: ‘Mental health is not as abstract as people sometimes make it sound’ ]
Seán Moran looks ahead to today’s Leinster final in an age where Munster hurling dominates.
[ Leinster hurling final and the battle for relevance ]
The Joe McDonagh Cup final is on currently in Croke Park. The teams went into the break level, but in the first play of the second half Laois score the opening goal of the game. Kildare 0-11 Laois 1-11
Today’s teams are as follows:
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy, Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Tommy Walsh, Mikey Carey, Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan, Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy, John Donnelly, Adrian Mullen, Billy Ryan, Stephen Donnelly, TJ Reid, Martin Keoghan
Galway: Éanna Murphy, Padraic Mannion, Daithí Burke, Fintan Burke, Cianan Fahy, Gavin Lee, TJ Brennan, Seán Linnane, David Burke, John Fleming, Cathal Mannion, Tom Monaghan, Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Kevin Cooney
Hello and welcome to live coverage of today’s Leinster hurling final between Kilkenny and Galway.
The Cats are aiming to make it six provincial titles in a row today, while Micheál Donoghue’s team are in search of a first title since 2018.
Derek Lyng’s side won comprehensively in their first meeting in the Leinster championship this year, but Galway have picked up form since that match.
Throw in at Croke Park for the Leinster final will be at 4pm.
Key Reads:
- Leinster SHC final: Unflappable Kilkenny can contain the Galway bounce-back
- Galway’s Conor Whelan: ‘Mental health is not as abstract as people sometimes make it sound’
- ‘I’ll play anywhere I’m told to’: Adrian Mullen keen to shine in Leinster final after beating injury demons
