Leinster SHC Final - Kilkenny 4-17 Dublin 1-15:There may have been a different feel to this Leinster hurling final than usual but that old, reliable result came by the finish. Dublin people arrived at Croke Park believing this could be the day they finally break Kilkenny's dominance, but Brian Cody's men are not finished yet as they proved with the type of start we've grown used to over the years.
The key to competing with Kilkenny has always been containment in the opening exchanges.
Anthony Daly must have had nightmares of the scoreboard reading 1-4 to 0-2 after 15 minutes. Or that Henry Shefflin, Richie Power and Eoin Larkin would be so ruthlessly effective.
Shefflin got matters going with two frees but it was Colin Fennelly’s delivery to an unmarked Eoin Larkin, who shifted inside to full forward with Shefflin on the wing, that led to the first goal after 10 minutes. Larkin was faced with a tight angle but the former hurler of the year powered the sliotar past Gary Maguire.
It looked ominous, especially considering the amount of space afforded to overlapping Kilkenny runners.
Even when Dublin stayed tight on their men they got skinned; Power motored passed Oisin Gough to snatch their second goal, from another tight angle, on 20 minutes.
It had shades of the manner Waterford were destroyed in the 2008 All-Ireland final.
More disaster followed for Dublin when Daly was forced to haul off a clearly unfit Joey Boland while Liam Rush expressed the teams frustration by picking up a yellow card for belting into Power. The shoulder rubbing continued with Conal Keaney putting Shefflin on his backside.
Dublin’s best chance of a revival came when Simon Lambert’s dropping ball was accidentally deflected towards the Kilkenny net by Noel Hickey but David Herity made a superb save to flick the ball off his goal line.
With Rush at centre back, Dublin started getting to grips with Power and Shefflin while Paul Ryan frees chipped into the Kilkenny lead.
Only problem was Shefflin wasn’t missing either – registering 0-5, four frees, to leave it 2-10 to 0-7 at the break after Brian Hogan had sauntered forward for the tenth point of a brutally efficient 35 minutes from the champions.
Daly was forced into further changes with the yellow carded Gough and Peadar Carton withdrawn.
Another goal chance slipped past early in the second half when Lambert batted a great chance wide.
Sure enough, the anvil fell when TJ Reid found Shefflin in acres of space on 42 minutes. The finish for goal number three was unstoppable. And brilliant.
Dublin needed to raise a few green flags but they were unable to get any clean ball to their inside forward line, where David O’Callaghan, by no fault of his own, was anonymous. In direct contrast, Hickey and Jackie Tyrell were immense all afternoon.
Even when matters were pulled back to six points after a speculative free by Ryan found the net, Kilkenny’s response was immediate as Richie Power cleanly gathered a high ball to feed Michael Rice for their fourth goal and with it Kilkenny’s 68th provincial title.
.Elsewhere Antrim landed their 10th Ulster SHC title in a row after their 2-20 to 2-12 win over Armagh in today's final at Casement Park. Armagh were outsiders against the Saffrons but gave a good account of themselves. However a Joey Scullion goal in stoppage time ensured victory for Antrim.
Dublin: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, O Gough; J McCaffrey (capt), J Boland, S Durkan; L Rushe, A McCrabbe (0-2); S Lambert, C Keaney (0-1), C McCormack (0-1); D O'Callaghan, P Ryan (1-9, nine frees), P Carton. Substitutions: M O'Brien (0-1) for J Boland (21 mins), D O'Dwyer for P Carton, P Schutte for O Gough (both half-time), D Plunkett (0-1) for S Lambert (44 mins), S Ryan for D O'Callaghan (64 mins).
Kilkenny: D Herity; N Hickey, JJ Delaney, J Tyrell; T Walsh, B Hogan (0-1, capt), P Murphy; M Fennelly, M Rice (1-2); TJ Reid, R Power (1-1), H Shefflin (1-9, seven frees); C Fennelly, E Larkin (1-2), R Hogan (0-2).
Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).