Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U-21 Hurling Championship semi-final

GALWAY 3-13 KILKENNY 1-17

By Kevin Egan at Bord na Móna O'Connor Park, Tullamore

A shared total of 27 wides may have had supporters and managers tearing their hair out in Tullamore this evening but it didn’t take from a hugely entertaining Leinster U-21 semi-final clash between Galway and Kilkenny, which eventually went to the Tribesmen after a powerful patch of hurling in the third quarter gave them enough of a lead to see them through a determined late surge from DJ Carey’s charges.

Over the course of the hour, it was Galway’s superior goal threat that proved crucial. Both sides created a handful of chances to hit the net but Galway goalkeeper Eanna Murphy made a few vital interventions while his attacking colleagues showed a clinical instinct when shooting for twine that was sorely lacking further out the field.

While the tempo of the play was always high, the game was slow to ignite as both sides were particularly profligate in the early stages. By the time man of the match Evan Niland fired over a point to put Galway 0-2 to 0-1 ahead after 14 minutes, the sides had struck 11 wides between them. The Tribesmen would have been particularly concerned at that stage as they were playing with the aid of a strong breeze, though Kilkenny were responsible for six of those wide attempts.

The game settled down with Niland and James Bergin leading the way for their respective sides, before Galway made their first crucial breakthrough after 18 minutes. A wonderful rob from Jack Canning set Niland up with a two on one situation and with the defender backing off, the Clarinbridge man backed himself and picked out the bottom corner of the net.

Kilkenny had their goal chances too, but Eanna Murphy did well to deny Adrian Mullen from close range while Bill Sheehan also failed to hit the target with a kicked effort in the closing stages of the half.

Still, 1-8 to 0-9 adrift with a strong wind to come seemed like a healthy position for Kilkenny – but that was until a Kevin Cooney point and a Seán Bleahane goal in the first three minutes after half time trebled the lead.

Galway were utterly dominant at this stage of the game, completely controlling the game in their own half of the field. Though their wide count continued to mount, they kept Kilkenny at arm’s length, Cianan Fahy and Kevin Cooney adding further points. A great run and finish from Fahy made it 3-12 to 0-12 with a little over ten minutes to go, and it looked as if Kilkenny’s race was run as they found it incredibly difficult to get clean possession in any sort of space close to the Galway goal.

Gradually DJ Carey’s side worked their way back into the game however and four points in a row set up a tense finish – and it could have been far more nerve-racking had John Donnelly not crashed a superb shot off the post after making a superb catch on the 20m line.

Kevin Cooney added a point to settle Galway’s nerves and the longer the game went without a Kilkenny goal, the more the win slipped away from the Leinster county. Bill Sheehan and Donnelly had shots blocked before a ground pull from Donnelly in the fifth minute of added time completed the scoring.

There were two more plays for Kilkenny to try and snatch a winner but the Galway defence held firm to set up a Leinster final clash with Wexford in a fortnight’s time.

Scorers for Galway: Evan Niland 1-6 (0-3f), Cianan Fahy 1-2, Kevin Cooney 0-4, Seán Bleahane 1-0, Brian Concannon 0-1.

Scorers for Kilkenny: James Bergin 0-7 (0-5f, 0-1 ’65), John Donnelly 1-2, Richie Leahy 0-3, Adrian Mullen & Conor Hennessy 0-2 each, Colum Prendiville 0-1.

GALWAY: Eanna Murphy; Ian O’Shea, Jack Fitzpatrick, Shane Bannon; Fintan Burke, Mark Hughes, Jack Grealish; Sean Loftus, Tomás Monaghan; Seán Blehane, Kevin Cooney, Cianan Fahy; Jack Canning, Brian Concannon, Evan Niland. Subs: Cian Salmon for Canning (HT), Conor Caulfield for Grealish (53), Patrick Foley for Bleahane (60), Ronan Murphy for Niland (60+4), Andrew Greaney for Burke (60+5)

KILKENNY: Liam Dunphy; Ryan Bergin, Tommy Walsh, Michael Cody; Tom Kenny, Martin Keoghan, Shane Murphy; Edmond Delaney, Richie Leahy; Adrian Mullen, John Donnelly, Colum Prendiville; Bill Sheehan, Conor Hennessy, James Bergin. Subs: Michael Carey for R Bergin (HT), Matt Kenny for Delaney (49) Sean Carey for James Bergin (54)

Referee: Alfie Devine (Westmeath)