WALSH CUP: Kilkenny 6-12 Dublin 0-12LAST WEDNESDAY night Brian Cody brought his panel together for the first time since their AllIreland win last September.
They did a bit more on Friday, then came to Parnell Park yesterday and put six goals and 12 points past Dublin. If any team can pick up where they left off four months ago with such devastating ferocity then it has to be Kilkenny.
"Sure they gave us a lesson," said Anthony Daly, who looked a little stunned after his first competitive game in charge of Dublin. It's only a quarter-final of the Walsh Cup in the middle of January, he then noted, although that didn't make it any less of a reminder of the gap Dublin have to bridge to be even considered Leinster contenders.
"And the way they went about it," added Daly. "The likes of JJ Delaney there, and the way he went at it, the Walsh Cup? Jesus, when we won All-Irelands it took us until April to get going again. They were fresh there, and mad for it. Like Tommy Walsh, from the very start of the game.
"So they're way ahead of us, physically, and hurling-wise. We just wouldn't be in Kilkenny's league at the moment. Nobody is. Sure some of those goals . . . like the second last goal, was unreal. But we have to learn from that, like when the ball hits the crossbar like that you have to clear it. But give them another chance?"
It was definitely a lesson in how to score goals. Dublin actually had some of the early chances but soon Kilkenny made their chances count, hitting the first of six just before half-time when Michael Grace made use of some slack defending.
Two more followed within three minutes of the restart, in bang -bang sequence from Aidan Fogarty and Richie Hogan. Midway through the second half substitute Patrick Hogan added the fourth, making use of the rebound, and then in the last 10 minutes Hogan added his second - an unstoppable shot - before late arrival Eddie Brennan set up Michael Rice for number six.
Take the goals out, of course, and it might have been a different story, except that Dublin's problems didn't end there. None of their starting forwards scored from play, and instead it was midfielder Alan McCrabbe who kept them in touch, hitting 0-8 in total, seven from placed balls. Shane Durkin also hit two from play at midfield but otherwise Dublin's scoring options always surrendered to Kilkenny, who had bigger weapons, and more of them.
"We were very naive, very green," said Daly. "Just in a different division from what we came up against today. But these Kilkenny fellas, when some of them get their chance there today, it's nearly their All-Ireland, because they mightn't get the chance again.
"At least a few of our fellas I've only seen in challenge matches showed up okay. And then we'd a serious hard week's training as well, you could see that in the legs. But we need to train, we need to build up.
"It's just a disappointing result, score-wise. But better be conceding that many goals today than be conceding them in a Leinster semi-final or quarter-final. So onwards and upwards. You can't get any worse than that anyway."
Dublin do have quite a few players to bring back, as do Kilkenny - but the more the game went on the more the gulf in class widened. Dublin also fell victim to the first yellow card - as both teams went the entire first half without even a black book - when Peadar Carton was sidelined on 43 minutes. Richie Hogan was the only player to follow on 66 minutes, though in the end Brian Cody wasn't quiet sure what to make of it all.
"I wasn't sure what to expect, to be honest," said the Kilkenny manager. "But I thought the referee was very good, very sensible. There was no sign of any controversy there. I just don't know yet if it has a future, to be honest. I didn't want to pre-judge it, but I just don't know. That was the first game and it went well. The referee wasn't fussy and showed common sense, and that's the important thing.
"But it's just the start of things really for us, and we'd be happy with the way things went for us. It was a decent, competitive game. Obviously the few goals made the difference. But it was a nice work-out for both teams. We've introduced a few new players to the panel. But we've no panel sorted yet. We have it open at the moment and we'll keep it like that for a while, and see how things go."
They scored six goals and now they'll see how things go: typical Kilkenny.
KILKENNY: D Herity; C Hickey, B Hogan, J Tyrrell; J Dalton (0-1, a free), J Tennyson, JJ Delaney; T Walsh, D Fogarty; M Rice (1-1), P Hartley, R Hogan (2-2); M Grace (1-3), R Power (0-2, both frees), A Fogarty (1-1). Subs: P Hogan (1-0) for Hartley (44 mins), K Joyce for Tyrrell (46 mins), J Mulhall (0-1) for A Fogarty (51 mins), P Murphy (0-1) for Walsh (58 mins).
Yellow card:R Hogan (66 mins, replaced by E Brennan).
DUBLIN: A Nolan; N Corcoran, K Ryan, P Brennan; S Hiney, T Brady, M Carton; A McCrabbe (0-8, six frees, one 65), S Durkin (0-2); T Sommers (0-1, a free), L Ryan, J Kelly; P Carton, S Martin, L Rushe. Subs: D Russell for Sommers (8 mins, inj), R Trainor for Brennan (half time), D O'Callaghan for L Ryan (both half time), D Treacy for Kelly (53 mins), S Mullen for Russell (65 mins). Yellow card: P Carton (43 mins, replaced by S Lambert, 0-1).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).
