The Final test is yet to come but at Croke Park yesterday Kilkenny passed the latest examination of their championship credentials with a lot to spare. Galway were subdued in the second half of an ultimately disappointing Guinness All-Ireland hurling semi-final as Kilkenny hit top gear to record a well-deserved eight-point victory.
Superior to their opponents all over the field, the Leinster champions built their success on some excellent individual displays at the back and consistent scoring in attack, which ensured they made possession and opportunity pay off in far greater proportion than Galway managed.
For three quarters of the match, Galway competed well but their lack of goal-scoring menace up front and jittery behaviour in defence left the slender leads they built up and maintained always looking vulnerable. They too had some good performers but weren't consistent enough to push their opponents to the whistle.
For the neutrals - as well as the westerners - this was a pity because the first half had been a compelling, evenly-contested 35 minutes with some nice play and excellent score-taking. But once Kilkenny opened the throttle and hit six points without reply midway through the second half, the feeling that they had an edge hardened into certainty.
Denis Byrne made the most sizeable contribution with eight points, including five from play. From the throw-in he switched to the right wing and such was his mastery that three times he scored points in direct response to scores from Galway. Three times he won James McGarry's puck-out and pointed immediately.
Byrne's marker, Paul Hardiman, was replaced but Finbar Gantley didn't cope notably better, conceding two from play. Byrne also fired over a couple of 65s and a free.
Byrne's relocation from midfield to the forwards has been one of a number of changes to the Kilkenny side which narrowly lost last year's All-Ireland. It has also allowed Brian McEvoy to join Andy Comerford at centrefield in what has become a very dynamic partnership. McEvoy may lose out on the lung-bursting solos but his covering play and striking - like the tantalising ball for DJ Carey's goal - has equipped him to be a fine central player.
Comerford's robust style again gave Kilkenny a platform and if he found the again-impressive David Tierney's pace a bit hot to handle, he did hold his position and got forward for an important early goal. Kilkenny also have a new defensive spine and that came through yesterday in good order. Full back Noel Hickey struggled at times in the first half but he went on to assert himself as the match progressed. The big success story, however, was David Kennedy at centre back. Half-injured, half-dropped for last year's semi-final against Clare, the Dunamaggin player showed no signs of trepidation yesterday.
His most prominent role was the subjugation of Joe Rabbitte in the second half. Peter Barry had already drawn the sting from the Galway captain - forcing his move to the 40 - but Kennedy took up the challenge with an appetite. Rabbitte's eclipse removed from Galway their favourite - and predictable - tactic, the high ball into the half forwards.
Galway's defence started well. Cathal Moore was well on top of John Power and Brian Feeney won his early exchanges with Carey. In general the cover was tight and aggressive - too much so at times that ratty outbreaks of belligerence were a feature of the first half. Ollie Canning, the forward trapped in a defender's body, more than justified his switch to corner back and played well on Charlie Carter.
Early in the match Alan Kerins - who had swapped with Tierney - had one of those purple passages like in last year's National League final and scored three fine points in nine minutes. He finished with five although both his momentum and the team's had been lost in the second half.
Rory Gantley's exploits with the placed ball were another feature of Galway's good period. He scored four first-half points from 65s and lengthy frees but missed a comparatively simple free early in the second half and gave way to Eugene Cloonan in the free-taking.
Consistent point-scoring kept Galway ticking over, and but for a bad goal conceded in the ninth minute, their lead would have been greater. Comerford galloped through the middle fairly unencumbered and his tame enough shot left Michael Crimmins standing in the Galway goal as it flew into the right hand corner.
Nonetheless it might have been worse for Galway as a DJ Carey run at their defence resulted in the ball being slotted through to Henry Shefflin who, alone and unmarked, fluffed the goal chance and Crimmins blocked out the shot for a 65.
There was only a point in it at half-time but there was a fragile air about the Galway defence and a feeling that Kilkenny could score further goals. When this came to pass three minutes into the second half, it was inevitable that it was Carey's prints on the
stiletto. Fastening onto McEvoy's long ball, he drilled his shot into the net to push Kilkenny a point in front, 2-8 to 0-13. It was a lead they weren't to lose.
Carey's displays haven't been as breathtaking as last year's but they haven't needed to be and the all-round strength of the unit has allowed him pick his moments which he has done devastatingly so far, scoring the critical goals in the last two matches.
In retrospect, Galway's game was up in the 46th minute after a well-judged ball from Mark Kerins placed Cloonan on goal but he snatched at the opportunity and the ball flew over for a point when a goal would have levelled the match. Cloonan added a point from a free a minute later but it was to be Galway's last score for 17 minutes.
By then the horse had bolted. Kilkenny's six-point dash, with four from Byrne, had placed the match out of Galway's reach. Despite goal chances for substitute Kevin Broderick and for Ollie Fahy, they couldn't force a way back and in the stampede for goals, point chances were spurned. The scoreline could have been closer but only in an alternative universe could the result have been different.