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Kilkenny through to BGE Leinster U-20 Hurling Final

Kilkenny manager DJ Carey shakes hands with his son Michael after the Bord Gais Energy Leinster GAA Hurling U20 Championship semi-final match between Galway and Kilkenny at Bord na Mona O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. 

Kilkenny manager DJ Carey shakes hands with his son Michael after the Bord Gais Energy Leinster GAA Hurling U20 Championship semi-final match between Galway and Kilkenny at Bord na Mona O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. 

Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U-20 Hurling Championship semi-final

KILKENNY 1-19 GALWAY 1-15

By Kevin Egan at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park

This year’s Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U-20 hurling final will be a south-east derby after Kilkenny secured their place alongside Wexford in that contest with a four-point victory over Galway tonight.

Galway manager Jeffrey Lynskey went with a youthful selection, leaning heavily on the players that picked up minor medals in 2017 and 2018, and there were sectors of the field where a little bit more power and strength might have served him well, particularly under their own puckout where Michael Carey was strong and Conor Heary exceptional.

Overall however, Kilkenny just seemed that little bit sharper in most sectors, and even the more senior members of this Galway side struggled to compete. DJ Carey’s side had a far more balanced scoring threat with all six starting forwards scoring from play. In contrast, by the 58th minute Galway’s front six had added a mere two points to Mark Kennedy’s seven frees, before Conor Walsh doubled that tally with two late points.

The decisive spell in the game was a ten-minute spell in the first half, while Galway had the assistance of the very light breeze that blew down towards the Park Avenue end of Bord na Móna O’Connor Park in Tullamore. The Tribesmen had moved into an 0-4 to 0-2 lead, with Diarmuid Kilcommins and Daniel Loftus shooting exceptional scores from play off the right wing.

However Kilkenny were dominant from that point up until the 20th minute, picking off seven points without reply. Niall Brassil started the charge with a cheeky lift of the sliothar over a defender to open up space for a shot from 40 metres out and Kilkenny built on that with a series of well-worked points.

Two Kennedy frees and a wonderful score from John Fleming out of the shadow of the stand made it 0-11 to 0-7 at half time, and Galway would have felt that if they could get any second half momentum, they might yet mount a charge.

Due to a large number of stoppages, momentum for either side was hard got in the second half, and when some hurling got going, it was Kilkenny who were the more clinical side. Darach Fahy had made one superb save to deny Aaron Brennan eight minutes into the second half but he could do nothing to prevent Eoin Cody raising a green flag after the Ballyhale man soared high to claim a puckout and then burst past his marker with an explosion of power and pace, and that score more than any other was critical.

Kilkenny kept Galway at arm’s length, aided by two excellent saves from Dean Mason, until Seán Neary goaled from 20 metres to finally give the Galway contingent in the crowd something to shout about with four minutes of normal time remaining.

Within 30 seconds however, Kilkenny had their reply – Cody found Seán Ryan with a good cross-field pass and Ryan slotted his third point from a tight angle to push the gap back out to six. Galway did muster up three further points but Kilkenny always had control, tacking on late scores of their own from Brassil and Cody to guarantee their win.

Scorers for Kilkenny: Niall Brassil 0-7 (0-5f, 0-1 ’65), Eoin Cody 1-3, Seán Ryan 0-3, Stephen Donnelly & Conor Heary 0-2 each, Adrian Mullen & Aaron Brennan 0-1 each.  

Scorers for Galway: Mark Kennedy 0-7f, Seán Neary 1-0, Conor Walsh & Dean Reilly 0-2 each, Diarmuid Kilcommins, Daniel Loftus, John Fleming & Donal Mannion 0-1 each.

KILKENNY:  Dean Mason; Mikey Butler, James Brennan, Conor Flynn; Conor Heary, Michael Carey, David Blanchfield; Evan Shefflin, Eoin O'Shea; Adrian Mullen, Eoin Cody, Aaron Brennan; Seán Ryan, Niall Brassil, Stephen Donnelly. Subs used: Conor Murphy for J Brennan (33), Ciarán Brennan for Cody (50, temp), Ciarán Brennan for A Brennan (52), James Bergin for Shefflin (59), John Dowd for Mullen (60+3)

GALWAY: Darach Fahy; Caimín Killeen, Mark Gill, Darren Morrissey; Daniel Loftus, TJ Brennan, Ronan Glennon; Seán Neary, Conor Caulfield; Diarmuid Kilcommins, Conor Walsh, Shane Ryan; Sean Bleahene, John Fleming, Mark Kennedy. Subs used: Sam McArdle for Morrissey (HT), Donal Mannion for Ryan (39), Cillian Lawless for Kilcommins (43), Dean Reilly for Bleahene (49), Ben Moran for Caulfield (56)

Referee: James Owens (Wexford)