TJ Reid of Kilkenny shoots to score his side's second goal during the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Dublin and Kilkenny at Croke Park in Dublin.
Leinster senior hurling championship semi-final
KILKENNY 3-20 DUBLIN 2-22
By Paul Keane at Croke Park
Kilkenny are back in the Leinster senior hurling championship final but just about after somehow emerging a point ahead of Dublin at the end of a Croke Park epic.
A whopping 15 points ahead at half-time, and 16 clear early in the second-half, it looked as if Brian Cody's Cats were destined to cruise through to the November 14 final.
But in what will go down as one of the great Croke Park comebacks, Dublin remarkably wiped out that deficit by the 71st minute when Daire Gray struck the equalising point.
The 2013 champions simply couldn't push ahead though and while TJ Reid top scored for Kilkenny with 1-10 on the evening, it was defender Huw Lawlor who will go down as their matchwinner with his 74th minute long range point separating the sides.
It's a return to the provincial final then for Kilkenny who had goalscorers in Billy Ryan, Reid and captain Colin Fennelly but Dublin will take plenty of confidence with them into the draw for the qualifiers.
It was a new look Kilkenny with Cody only fielding 10 of the team that came up short of Tipperary in last year's All-Ireland final and he perhaps left the ground afterwards with more questions about his team than answers.
Ciaran Wallace and Eoin Cody made their Championship debuts with Wallace's inclusion no surprise after starting all five of their Allianz League games.
Ultra experienced Richie Hogan was among the subs and came on for the last 20 minutes or so while Young Hurler of the Year Adrian Mullen wasn't fit for selection after only recently returning from a cruciate lay-off.
Dublin went with 14 of the team that put 2-31 on the board against Laois last weekend, including ex-All-Star Liam Rushe in place of Ronan Hayes who came on and sniped a goal.
They kept pace with the Cats for 10 minutes and led 0-3 to 0-2 at that stage.
But Kilkenny put clear daylight between the teams during a blitzkrieg period of scoring between the ninth and 17th minutes when they outscored Dublin by 2-4 to 0-1.
The goals arrived in the 13th and 14th minutes with Reid involved in the move for Ryan's first before slotting the second himself when he slipped away from James Madden and raced clear before applying a clever batted finish to avoid being hooked.
Dublin were in real trouble and six more Kilkenny points in a row in the lead up to half-time left the hosts with that sinking feeling.
Fennelly appeared to put the game virtually beyond the 2013 champions when he burst through a trio of Dublin defenders to power in Kilkenny's third goal in first-half stoppage time, leaving them 3-13 to 0-7 clear at the interval.
Dublin introduced speedy attacker Eamon Dillon at half-time and he conjured two goal chances, the first flying wide and the second tipped over for a point by Eoin Murphy. Dillon was terrific and scored four second-half points in total.
Kilkenny still led by 13 points at the second water break but from there on it was a virtual onslaught from Dublin who sniped a 58th minute goal from sub Ronan Hayes after a clever run along the right endline.
Free-taker Donal Burke continued to punish indiscipline with a series of points for Dublin and Dillon and Dillon and Chris Crummey were all on the mark too as the Dubs finally drew level.
They deserved to take the game to extra-time at least but simply couldn't push on and Lawlor emerged as Kilkenny's last gasp hero.
Kilkenny scorers: TJ Reid 1-10 (0-6f), Billy Ryan 1-1, Colin Fennelly 1-1, Walter Walsh 0-2, John Donnelly 0-2, Eoin Cody 0-1, Conor Delaney 0-1, Alan Murphy 0-1, Huw Lawlor 0-1.
Dublin scorers: Donal Burke 0-12 (10f), Chris Crummey 1-1, Eamon Dillon 0-4, Ronan Hayes 1-0, Cian Boland 0-2, Daire Gray 0-2, Danny Sutcliffe 0-1.
KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Conor Delaney, Huw Lawlor, Ciaran Wallace; Cillian Buckley, Paddy Deegan, Padraig Walsh; Richie Reid, Conor Fogarty; John Donnelly, Eoin Cody, Walter Walsh; TJ Reid, Billy Ryan, Colin Fennelly. Subs: Richie Hogan for Ryan (51), Martin Keoghan for Cody (60), Conor Browne for Fogarty (64), Alan Murphy for Donnelly (64), Richie Leahy for Richie Reid (69).
DUBLIN: Alan Nolan; Eoghan O'Donnell, Cian O'Callaghan, James Madden; Daire Gray, Paddy Smyth, Conor Burke; Sean Moran, Riain McBride; Cian Boland, Donal Burke, Danny Sutcliffe; Davy Keogh, Liam Rushe, Chris Crummey. Subs: Jake Malone for O'Callaghan (26-28, blood), Eamon Dillon for Keogh (h/t), Ronan Hayes for Rushe (41), Malone for Moran (50), Mark Schutte for Boland (59), Fergal Whitely for McBride (70).
Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).
