Danny Sutcliffe of Dublin in action against David Blanchfield of Kilkenny during the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 4 match between Dublin and Kilkenny at Parnell Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile.
Saturday, June 8.
Leinster SHC final
Kilkenny v Dublin, Croke Park, 6pm (RTE)
Kilkenny have been given a significant boost ahead of Saturday’s Leinster SHC Final against Dublin by the return to fitness of Adrian Mullen.
The 2023 All-Star hasn’t featured for Kilkenny since sustaining a leg injury in their first match of the Leinster SHC against Antrim and is named at wing-forward.
There had been doubts about the fitness of John Donnelly (thumb) and Mikey Carey (leg) but both are named in a strong looking Cats XV.
Dublin manager, Micheál Donoghue, has unsurprisingly named the same starting XV that secured their place in Saturday’s Final by beating Galway in their final match of the round robin phase.
Dublin haven’t won a Leinster title since 2013 which was also the year of their last championship win over Kilkenny and go into the game as underdogs against a Cats team that is going for a fifth title in a row.
There was only three points between the teams when they met in Parnell Park three weeks ago, and there’s no reason to believe that Dublin won’t be just as competitive this time around.
Indeed, if it transpires that John Donnelly hasn’t made a full recovery from that thumb injury then the scales might be even more balanced as he was the best player in the pitch in that encounter, scoring seven points from play.
The big variable will be how Dublin’s less experienced players will react to playing in a first ever Leinster Final in Croke Park. Will they rise to the occasion or feel burdened by it?
On paper Kilkenny look like they have a bit more craft in attack and impact from the bench, but everything we’ve seen from Dublin so far in this Leinster campaign suggest they’ll fight tooth and nail for everything.
DUBLIN: Seán Brennan; John Bellew, Eoghan O'Donnell, Paddy Smyth; Chris Crummey, Conor Donohoe, Paddy Doyle; Brian Hayes, Conor Burke; Danny Sutcliffe, Donal Burke, Sean Currie; Fergal Whiteley, Dara Purcell, Ronan Hayes. Subs: Eddie Gibbons, James Madden, Daire Gray, Seán Gallagher, Darragh Power, Mark Grogan, Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing, Colin Currie, Paul Crummey, Jake Malone, Liam Murphy.
KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Tommy Walsh; David Blanchfield, Richie Reid, Mikey Carey; Cian Kenny, Paddy Deegan; Adrian Mullen, TJ Reid, John Donnelly; Martin Keoghan, Billy Ryan, Eoin Cody. Subs: Aidan Tallis, Conor Delaney, Shane Murphy, Jordan Molloy, Cillian Buckley, Conor Fogarty, Tom Phelan, Walter Walsh, Owen Wall, Harry Shine, Billy Drennan
