Under-21 Hurling Leinster FinalKilkenny 1-16 Wexford 2-3 The gulf in class was there for all to see as Kilkenny cruised to a comprehensive, 10-point victory over Wexford at Wexford Park yesterday evening.
The reigning champions turned on the power, particularly in a dominant second half, as they demolished a Wexford side who could manage only the meagre total of 1-2 from play. In contrast, the visitors' attack, after a sluggish start, teased and tormented the home defence into second-half submission.
Kilkenny played with all the class in the opening 30 minutes but were met with a stubborn resistance from a side determined to lay down an early marker. But despite all of this it was a first half which produced little in the way of fluent hurling as both sets of forward lines struggled for scores.
Virtually every time the game looked like coming to life it was the dreadful finishing of both sides, Kilkenny in particular, who shot 10 wides to Wexford's six, which led to a low-scoring half.
Full forward Willie O'Dwyer and Rory Jacob exchanged points in the opening five minutes, but after a James Fitzpatrick pointed free had edged Kilkenny back in front after eight minutes, one had to wait a further 10 minutes for the games next score.
It was O'Dwyer who stretched Kilkenny into a two-point lead, after a series of dreadful wides, while Wexford's only response was a Dessie Mythen point in the 22nd minute, their only first-half score from play.
While Kilkenny finished the half strongest all they had to show was a further John Phelan point which left them leading 0-4 to 0-2 at the interval.
Kilkenny opened the second half with a scoring flourish which all but ended the game as a contest. After Shane O'Neill had pointed within two minutes of the restart, it was the superb Richie Power who found the Wexford net two minutes later when his long-range effort deceived goalkeeper Dermot Flynn.
While Wexford responded with a John Breen goal in the 36th minute, virtually every time they looked like coming back it was Kilkenny who responded with a string of excellent points to lead 1-12 to 1-3 with nine minutes remaining.
Wexford never looked like coming back into the game as Kilkenny's craft and skill was winning out in every sector of the pitch. Even a Rory Jacob goal from a free four minutes from the end failed to lift the home side, and Kilkenny continued to exert their control, finishing with two Power points and further points from substitute Shane Hennessy, his second of the game, and a superb, long-range Ciarán Hoyne effort in additional time.
So for Kilkenny it was some measure of compensation for the defeat of their seniors at the hands of the model county in the provincial championship. They oozed class all over the pitch, and with better quality finishing their victory margin could have been far greater, for both Hennessy and O'Dwyer missed out on goal efforts during a second half of total dominance.
KILKENNY: D Herity; S Maher, J Tennyson, M Fennelly; T Walsh, PJ Delaney, C Hoyne (0-1); R Power (1-3, 1f), P Cleere (0-1); C Phelan, J Phelan (0-1), J Fitzpatrick (0-3, 1f); S O'Neill (0-1), W O'Dwyer (0-3), B Dowling (0-1). Subs: S Hennessy (0-2) for O'Neill, E Reid for Dowling.
WEXFORD: D Flynn; A O'Connell, J O'Connor, T Hawkins; K Kavanagh, K Rossiter, C Kenny; A Kavanagh, C Dempsey; D Mythen (0-1), J Breen (1-0), M Doyle; J Lawlor (0-1), R Jacob (1-1f), P White. Subs: M Kelly for Doyle, P Ryan for Dempsey, R Flynn for Kelly.
Referee: J McGrath (Westmeath).
