Kilkenny 3-22; Galway 1-20
Kilkenny emerged with a crown from Leinster for the sixth year in a row and once again they weren’t tested by a Galway side which staged a half-hearted rally before rolling over by eight points at Croke Park on Sunday.
And so the Cats collect their 77th Leinster SHC title without having to get out of third gear in the eastern province. Judged against the high water mark of the previous night’s Munster final, this was stale kippers compared to caviar.
Galway travelled in hope - and in truth not much more than that and were going along ok until TJ Reid intervened with a catch and a rasper of a shot which Eanna Murphy did well to parry. However, the eagle-eyed Martin Keoghan, who ended up with two opportunistic goals to his credit, followed up to pull on the sliotar to give his side a huge psychological 1-9 to 0-8 lead at the break.
If the first half was pedestrian, the first 23 minutes of the second half was somnambulant for the neutral observer as the Cats built on their half time advantage to go 13 points clear.
Just as the more astute members of the crowd were about to take their leave, Galway came to life and hit 1-6 without reply to make it a four point game - with the possibility of a Munster Final-like finish.
We wished in vain. Kilkenny roused themselves from their slumber to tack on the scores that left them eight point winners and pulling up before referee Johnnie Murphy sounded the final whistle.
And folks, that was about it in a nutshell. Kilkenny will improve for sure and Galway must if they are to advance further than their next game.
Winning boss Derek Lyng summed it up perfectly afterwards when he declared: “We just about did enough. Obviously, near the end we were making life a little bit hard for ourselves, but we tend to do that at times, but that’s the sport and our response was quite good as well. It wasn’t perfect, we know that, but certainly parts of it we were pleased with and now we have to drive on for the next four weeks,” said Lyng.
He went on: “We have a big month ahead, the competition is there, and once we get over today, that’s in the background. We’re looking forward then and we’ll have a competitive few weeks hopefully."
Kilkenny: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; M Carey (0-2), R Reid, P Deegan (0-1); C Kenny (0-2), J Molloy (0-1); John Donnelly (captain) (0-1), A Mullen (0-4), B Ryan (0-3); S Donnelly (0-2), TJ Reid (1-4, 0-4f), M Keoghan (2-2) Subs: D Blanchfield for Walsh (59), L Hogan for S Donnelly (59), S Murphy for Butler (66), K Doyle for Molloy (70), H Shine for Ryan (71).
Galway: E Murphy; P Mannion, D Burke, F Burke; C Fahy, G Lee, TJ Brennan (0-1); S Linnane (0-1), D Burke; J Fleming (0-1), C Mannion (0-11, 0-7f), T Monaghan (0-1); CWhelan (captain), B Concannon (1-0), K Cooney (0-3) Subs: D Morrissey for F Burke (35), D Walsh for Murphy (h-t), R Glennon for David Burke (42), T Killeen (0-2) for Fleming (53), A Burns for Monaghan (66)
Ref: J Murphy (Limerick).
