Gaelic Games

Kilkenny round off their league campaign with top spot

Brian Cody’s side defeat Dublin to set up a clash with Offaly

Kilkenny’s Richie Hogan and Eoghan O’Donnell of Dublin contest a high ball during their Allianz League clash. Photo: Cathal Noonan/Inpho
Sun Mar 20 2016 - 17:58

Kilkenny 0-23 Dublin 1-14

Twelve months after narrowly avoiding the loss of their Division 1A status, Kilkenny proudly marched to the top of the League pile with a solid win over Dublin in Nowlan Park on Sunday.

While they and Dublin were already assured of quarter-final berths – something which gave the game a dead-rubber element to it, top spot was still up for grabs. With Waterford failing to beat Galway, the Cats climbed into pole position, earning a quarter-final meeting with Leinster rivals Offaly.

Now, with silverware on offer, the winners will be hoping to continue that good form into the knockout stages.

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“The League has gone well for us,” said Kilkenny boss Brian Cody. “We see the quarter-final as another game to be won.”

Dublin are also gunning to get back to winning ways but know they must develop a killer touch.

“We let Kilkenny get too far ahead – at half-time we were chasing the game,” offered Dublin boss Ger Cunningham. “We are trying to blood new players, and some of them did very well.

“The players kept chasing in the second half and if we had taken the goal chance created in the closing few minutes it would have been back to a one score game. Who knows what might have happened.”

The match was a series of what-ifs for Dublin, especially in the first half. Their shooting proved wayward, as they registered 11 wides. After 30 minutes their scoring tally amounted to an eighth minute point from Niall McMorrow, with Fionntán MacGib raising the green flag in the 22nd minute.

In the same time Kilkenny, who were almost equally wasteful with 10 wides posted by the break, put 13 points on the board to lead by nine (0-13 to 1-1). The 2015 Hurler of the Year T.J. Reid, Richie Hogan and Padraig Walsh were the main scorers for the Cats.

In the run up to the break Dublin pulled some of the deficit back through Eamon Dillon and Niall McMorrow, against a long range free by Kieran Joyce, to leave the interval score 0-14 to 1-3 in a game which drew close to 9,000 spectators.

Three times the teams traded scores during the 10 minutes immediately after the break. With neither side seemingly capable of making a decisive burst, with little over 10 minutes left the game ebbed along with Kilkenny enjoying a 0-21 to 1-10 advantage.

From there on the Dubs enjoyed the better of things. Inspired by Liam Rush, John McCaffrey and David Treacy they got the run on the opposition. While McCaffrey, Rushe (2) and David Treacy all picked off points they couldn’t get the goal they craved. MacGib created a big chance for Dillon with 69 minutes on the clock, but we was denied by a brave body save from Kilkenny netminder Richie Reid.

That was a big moment in the game – with the score standing at 0-22 to 1-14 Dublin could have roared right back into contention. It would prove to be their last chance.

Kilkenny: R. Reid, J. Tyrrell, J. Holden, B. Kennedy, P. Walsh (0-2), K. Joyce (0-1, free), C. Buckley, L. Ryan (0-2), D. Cody, W. Walsh (0-3), T.J. Reid (0-11, 0-6 frees), J. Maher, J.J. Farrell, J. Power (0-1), R. Hogan (0-3). Subs - M. Malone for Maher, 60 mins; S. Prendergast for Tyrrell, 60 mins; K. Kelly for Malone (inj), 70 mins.

Dublin: G. Maguire, E. O'Donnell, C. O'Callaghan, O. Gough, C. Crummy, L. Rushe (0-1), S. Barrett, D. O'Connell, G. Whelan, C. Cronin, N. McMorrow (0-2), D. Treacy (0-4, frees), F. MacGib (1-1), E. Dillon (0-3), M. Schutte (0-1). Subs - J. McCaffrey (0-2) for Whelan, 28 mins; S. McGrath for Cronin, 45 mins; S. Treacy for O'Connell, 61 mins.

Referee: J. Keenan (Wicklow).