Kildare put in impressive showing against the Cats
Muiris Curtin lines up a shot at the Kilkenny goal Photo: James Lawlor
Kilkenny are the Dioralyte Walsh Shield winners after a four point win over Kildare but they had to empty the bench after the break to earn that tough victory over a Kildare side who enjoyed brilliant passages of play. Brian Dowling’s team were worthy half time leaders and it was the introduction of familiar names of Reid, Cody, Deegan, Butler and Donnelly to tip the balance in the closing quarter.
After Cian Kenny opened the scoring inside a minute Kildare responded with three of their own through two Jack Sheridan frees and the first of Gerry Keegan's five. A defensive mistake allowed Martin Keoghan for the game’s opening goal but Kildare were back in front through Keegan and Muiris Curtin.
Kildare hurled with great commitment to bely their underdog rating an d when James Dolan struck for a 18th minute goal the Lilywhites were full value for their lead. Two Michael Brennan frees kept Kilkenny in touch but Kildare finished the half with points from Jack Sheridan and James Dolan to lead 1-9 to 1-7.
Kilkenny made changes at the break with a view to stemming the Kildare dominance. Eoin Cody and Peter McDonnell pointed either side of a Jack Sheridan free. Keoghan and Cody again from a free pointed after Gerry Keegan slipped a defender for a simple tap over.
Kildare were given a massive injection on 42 when Caolan Smith got on the end of Jack Sheridan's long free to flick home a goal that put Kildare back three in front. Kilkenny responded as you would have expected with Eoin Cody hitting four ,Ed McDermott added three before Niall Shortall left four in it with injury time approaching. The final whistle left Kilkenny 1-20 to 2-13 winners.
The best moment of the afternoon for Kildare was the 49th minute introduction of Conan Boran after 15 months out with an ACL injury. He settled in well and can now look forward to the league where his presence will be a massive boost.
E Cody 0-6 (5f),M Keoghan 1-1, E McDermott 0-3, M Brennan 0-3 (2f),P McDonald 0-2, L Moore 0-2, C Kenny, K Doyle, N Shortall 0-1 each.
J Sheridan 0-5 (4f), G Keegan 0-5, J Dolan 1-1, C Smith 1-0, M Curtin, P Dolan 0-1 each.
Eoin Murphy; Rory Garrett, Mikey Carey, Killian Corcoran, Peter McDonald, Darragh Corcoran, Michael Brennan; Killian Doyle, Jordan Molloy; Timmy Clifford, Liam Moore, Cian Kenny, Stephen Donnelly, Marty Murphy, Martin Keoghan. Subs: Eoin Cody for M Brennan h/t; N Shortall for M Murphy, h/t; Mikey Butler for K Corcoran, h/t; Ed McDermott for C Kenny, 31; Richie Reid for P McDonald, 41; James Donnelly for S Donnelly, 41; Cillian Hackett for L Moore, 47; Jeff Neary for K Doyle, 48.
Paddy McKenna; Liam O’Reilly, Rian Boran, Dan O’ Meara, Paul Dolan, Cian Boran, Alan Goss; Daire Guerin, Cathal McCabe; Jack Travers, Gerry Keegan, Caolan Smith, Jack Sheridan, Muiris Curtin, James Dolan. Subs: Tim Ryan for C Smith, 44; Conan Boran for J Travers, 49; Michael Owens for J Dolan, 53; Tom Power for M Curtin, 60.
Adam Kinahan (Offaly)
