Allianz Hurling League Division 1A

KILKENNY 2-18 CORK 0-17

By John Harrington at Nowlan Park

A solid performance from Kilkenny was enough to see them past the challenge of Cork in convincing fashion at Nowlan Park today.

The home team outworked their visitors in most areas of the pitch, but were especially dominant in the air where they consistently won clean possession above their opponents.

The sight of a stripey jersey emerging from a ruck for possession on the ground was also a feature of the match, especially in the second-half when Kilkenny’s dominance grew more pronounced.

Individual Cork hurlers like Cormac Murphy, Patrick Horgan, and Tim O’Mahony hurled well, but as a collective the Rebel were very flat and John Meyler will be disappointed with the way they faded from the contest.

It took both teams some time to warm to the task at hand in a fairly frigid Nowlan Park.

Ring-rusty first-touches and some skewed shooting made for a fractured contest for much of the first-half, with little in the way of free-flowing play.

The positioning of prodigal son, Aidan Walsh, at full-forward caught the eye on the Cork team-sheet, and he got off the mark impressively with the first score of the game after two minutes.

The skill and economy of movement he showed to kill the ball dead on his hurley and then strike it over the bar on the run was one of the few moments of real flair in the first half.

It wasn’t a fortaste of what was to come, though, because thereafter Kilkenny’s League debutant Huw Lawlor grew into the game and looks like a fine prospect at full-back.

Cork led by 0-4 to 0-3 after 15 minutes and were the slightly sharper team up to that point, but, with their defenders increasingly dominant, Kilkenny started to come more and more into the game.

Two frees and a ’65 from Kevin Kelly had edged them ahead before they struck the landed the first heavy blow of the game when Richie Leahy goaled.

He had just come on for Ger Malone who was stretchered off with what looked like serious injury, and benefited from a really visionary pass from the lively Billy Ryan that put him clean through on goal.

Cork rallied in the final ten minutes of the half mainly thanks to the impressive Patrick Horgan who hit two sweet points from play, so at the break Kilkenny led by just one, 1-8 to 0-10.

The crucial score of the match came just five minutes into the second-half when the always dangerous Billy Ryan raced onto an angled delivery from James Meagher and finished confidently to the back of the net.

That goal put the Cats five points ahead, and Cork never looked like reeling them in.

That was thanks mainly to the dominance of the Kilkenny defence where the likes of Paul Murphy, Huw Lawlor, Conor Delaney, and Paddy Deegan returned everything that came down their channel with interest.

Deegan, a corner-back last year, was centre-back today and really impressed in the pivotal defensive position.

Cormac Murphy did his best to keep driving Cork forward from the middle of the park and finished the day with four points to his name, but he got very little help from his team-mates in a toothless Cork attack.

The Kilkenny forwards were foraging for possession with much greater dedication, and Ger Aylward and John Donnelly in particular doing a lot of dog-work.

Aylward’s shooting wasn’t always on the money, but he still finished with two points from play and never stopped trying in a centre-forward position that perhaps doesn't best suit his skill-set.

Aylward’s second point of the day was followed by a brilliant long-range score from Deegan, which brought down the curtain on an impressive win for a Kilkenny team shorn of many of its front-line stars.

Scorers for Kilkenny: Kevin Kelly 0-8 (7f, 1'65), Billy Ryan 1-1, Richie Leahy 1-0 Ger Aylward 0-2, John Donnelly 0-2, Conor Delaney 0-2, Conor Fogarty 0-1, Conor Browne 0-1, Paddy Deegan 0-1

Scorers for Cork: Patrick Horgan 0-10 (6f), Cormac Murphy 0-4, Declan Dalton 0-1 (sideline), Aidan Walsh 0-1, Daniel Kearney 0-1

KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Paul Murphy, Huw Lawlor, Tommy Walsh; Conor Delaney, Paddy Deegan, Enda Morrissey; James Maher, Conor Fogarty; John Donnelly, Ger Aylward, Ger Malone; Kevin Kelly, Billy Ryan, Luke Scanlon. Subs: Richie Leahy for Ger Malone (18), Conor Browne for James Maher (45), Liam Blanchfield for Luke Scanlon (56), Pat Lyng for Ger Aylward (64)

CORK: Anthony Nash; Stephen McDonnell, Damien Cahalane, Conor O’Sullivan; Christopher Joyce, Tim O’Mahony, Sean O’Donoghue; Conor Cahalane; Cormac Murphy; Daniel Kearney, Decan Dalton, Luke Meade; Jamie Coughlan, Aidan Walsh, Patrick Horgan. Subs: Jack O’Connor for Jamie Coughlan (ht), Conor Lehane for Conor Cahalane (42), David Lowney for Conor O’Sullivan (53), Michael O’Halloran for Luke Meade (63)

Ref: James Owens (Wexford)