Sweet revenge for Cats
Galway 0-10 Kilkenny 1-16  By
Graham Clifford
Kilkenny had double reason to celebrate on Sunday. Not only did they
book their safe passage to the League 1 semi-finals stage but also they
erased memories of last year’s shock defeat to Galway in the All-Ireland
semi-final.
The comfortable nine-point victory over the Tribesmen means Brian Cody’s
men finished top of the Division, a place many Kilkenny followers believe
they have a pre-destined right to be every year.
Athenry’s star Eugene Cloonan missed that semi-final due to a rift
between his club and the County Board. Many in the west felt Galway could
have won the All-Ireland itself last year had the pacey forward been on
Conor Hayes’s teamsheet then. However on Sunday at Pearce Stadium
Cloonan’s huge potential was nullified by a combination of determined
Kilkenny marking and poor ball from Galway’s half-forward line.
Cloonan had an uncharacteristic afternoon finishing the day without a
single score.
Kilkenny on the other hand were lethal in attack. Nine Kilkenny players
found scores in a game Galway needed to win to reach the final stages.
The home side did start brightly and by the 13th minute the sides were
level with 0-3 apiece each. Ger Farragher initiated a one-man assault
on the Leinster men and his fourth point after 17 minutes gave Galway
a 0-5 to 0-3 lead.
However this was as good as it got for the men in the maroon and white
as Kilkenny stepped up a gear. Richie Power was the catalyst for the Cats
assault in the first-half and his point saw the sides enter the dressing
rooms at half-time on 0-7 each.
In the second half though it was one way traffic. In the last 20 minutes
the away side outscored their opponents 1-7 to 0-1 and by the time Willie
O’Dwyer scored a late goal for the Cats Brian Cody was already making
plans for the semi-final.
Elsewhere in 1B Tipperary responded excellently to sharp criticism from
manager Babs Keating after their last league defeat to hammer Laois away
from home on a scoreline of 4-17 to 0-12. The Premier County are now in
the quarter-finals of the league as other results went their way. Laois
meanwhile are relegated having lost every one of their league encounters.
Limerick had a facile 4-24 to 2-11 victory over Antrim. The Ulstermen
still euphoric after running Kilkenny so close in their last league encounter
were overpowered as Andrew O’Shaughnessy and Mark Keane combined
to score 4-11 of the Treatymen’s massive total at Casement Park.
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