Under-21 Hurling All-Ireland Semi-finals/Kilkenny 1-24 Galway 2-12: Kilkenny made light of the enforced absence through injury of senior defender John Tennyson as they led all the way in defeating the holders, Galway, in the Erin All-Ireland Under-21 hurling semi-final in Tullamore on Saturday evening.
In forging a 1-24 to 2-12 victory that was as impressive as it was decisive, the Noresiders fully avenged the defeat inflicted on them by the Tribesmen in last year's final.
The defending champions were chasing the game from throw-in to final whistle, for they never recovered from a poor start which left them trailing by four points after as many minutes. Things got no better for them and by midway through the first half they faced arrears of 1-7 to 0-2, Kilkenny's goal coming from Richie Power after Austin Murphy had created the opening.
Joe Canning, who was deemed insufficiently fit to start the game, was introduced as a 22nd minute replacement for Seán Glynn, and if ever the appellation of "super sub" was deserved this was certainly such an occasion.
Within a minute he had the green flag fluttering when he flicked Niall Healy's free beyond the reach of goalkeeper Liam Tierney, before going on to notch a personal tally of 2-4.
Kilkenny turned over with an interval lead of 1-12 to 1-5 and extended their advantage with another point by "Cha" Fitzpatrick within a minute of the resumption.
However, a point by Donal Reilly and a second goal by the impressive Canning in the 34th minute offered the holders renewed hope before Kilkenny picked off a hat-trick of points to remain in control.
Galway lacked neither determination nor courage, and in a 10-minute spell they outscored their opponents by five points to two to cut their arrears to just four points. But the Cats were always capable of raising their game when danger threatened, and they finished by far the stronger side, adding six points to which Galway's only reply was a pointed free by Canning.
KILKENNY: L Tierney; K Joyce, D Cody, S Cummins; P Hartley, J Dalton, D Fogarty; J Fitzpatrick (0-8, 5 frees, 3 65s), M Fennelly (0-1); T J Reid (0-5), A Murphy (0-2), P Hogan (0-4); R Power (1-1), M Nolan (0-1), D McCormack. Subs: A Healy (0-2) for McCormack (35 mins), E O'Donoghue for Nolan (56 mins).
GALWAY: A Ryan; T Linnane, P Loughnane, P Holland; A Keary (0-1), J Lee, G Mahon; N Callanan, D Kelly; C Donlon, F Coone (0-1), S Glynn; D Reilly (0-2), N Healy (0-1, free), K Wade (0-3, 2 frees, 1 65). Subs: J Canning (2-4, 1 free) for Glynn (22 mins), K Hynes for Callanan (h-t), C Kavanagh for Donlon (50 mins).
Referee: J Sexton (Limerick)
