Leinster SHC: Kilkenny summon defiant response

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Kilkenny 5-21 Wexford 1-16

By Jack McKay at UPMC Nowlan Park

A superb showing from Mossy Keoghan, a healthy return from TJ Reid and a much improved Kilkenny display.

The Cats raised five green flags at Nowlan Park in front of 13,576, downing Wexford by 17 points. After last weekend’s drubbing away to Galway that left the reigning Leinster Senior Hurling champions bottom of the table, Derek Lyng’s side certainly made amends here.

Four second-half goals – three of which came in the third quarter – ensured the contest was put to bed with 15 still to play.

The first of those four second-half majors came in the 45th minute from Liam Moore, the Dicksboro man creeping in at the far post to connect with Reid’s sideline cut that the Wexford defence failed to deal with.

Four minutes later Kilkenny grabbed their third goal, Tom Phelan setting up Cian Kenny and he buried it. Then, in the 55th minute, Keoghan won possession from another Wexford error, closed the space and batted home, 4-13 to 1-12.

From there the Cats kept firing, scoring seven of the next nine points to take their lead to 15 in added time.

Damien Reck and Lee Chin (free) hit two in a row for the visitors for the first time since the 45th minute, but there would still be time for Reid to add a fifth goal. He gathered Paddy Deegan’s crossfield ball, faked right and darted left, firing low into the far corner beyond Mark Fanning.

It was an excellent second-half display from the hosts.

It was 0-2 each after nine minutes, but the Cats hit five points on the spin from minutes 10 to 18 to move 0-7 to 0-2 ahead, with all but one from play as their front six harassed every short restart from Wexford.

The hosts would get their first green flag just before the break, Keoghan – flying in the first half – profited from Reid and Deegan’s build up play, but it was his own incisive run that opened up the space. He finished powerfully into the top corner, but the seven-point margin didn’t even last a minute.

Immediately Wexford countered, and when Ivan Bolger was dispossessed by Conor Hearne, the Wexford midfielder pawned it off to Kevin Foley, who had all the space he needed to drive low to the net, 1-11 to 1-7.

Simon Roche would get one back for Wexford on the restart, but they would be quickly crushed by Moore, Kenny and Keoghan.

Scorers for Kilkenny: TJ Reid 1-8 (8fs), Mossy Keoghan 2-3, Cian Kenny 1-3, Liam Moore 1-0, Jordan Molloy, Tom Phelan 0-2 each, David Blanchfield, Paddy Deegan, Killian Doyle 0-1 each.

Scorers for Wexford: Lee Chin 0-6 (4fs), Kevin Foley 1-2, Damien Reck, Simon Roche, Cillian Byrne 0-2 each, Conor Hearne, Richie Lawlor 0-1 each.

Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Mikey Carey, Ivan Bolger; Paddy Deegan, Darragh Corcoran, David Blanchfield; Killian Doyle, Jordan Molloy; Cian Kenny, Eoin Cody, Tom Phelan; Liam Moore, TJ Reid, Mossy Keoghan.

Subs: Stephen Donnelly for Phelan (56), Timmy Clifford for Doyle (62), Shane Murphy for Bolger (70), Richie Reid for Kenny (70+2), Gearoid Dunne for 13 (70+6).

Wexford: Mark Fanning; Damien Reck, Liam Ryan, Darragh Carley; Conor Foley, Shane Reck, Richie Lawlor; Diarmuid O'Leary, Conor Hearne; Ross Banville, Simon Roche, Jack O'Connor; Kevin Foley, Lee Chin, Jack Redmond.

Subs: Cillian Byrne for O’Connor (39), Seán Rowley for Roche (51), David Clarke for Ryan (57), James Byrne for O’Leary (60), Tomás Kinsella for Redmond (70+5).

Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).