The Kilkenny senior hurlers finally got their year up and running with a hard earned league victory over Offaly last Sunday in Nowlan Park.
The Arctic-like conditions that saw Kilkenny's clash with Tipperary postponed twice - thankfully had abated by last Sunday and in their place was a dry, bright, crisp day, perfect conditions for good hurling. Kilkenny, who started with nine of the victorious All-Ireland winning side opened brightly, notching up three unanswered points within the first quarter. Offaly's marksman Shane Dooley — son of manager and Offaly legend Joe — finally opened the Faithful men’s account through a free. This wasn't a good game by any means and I'm not going to dress it up as one. It was your typical start of the year league game, plenty of fumbling, loads of missed passes, and some poor shooting. However, I'm not going to give out about the display on offer at this time of the year as the objective is to pick up your league points, refine the skills and work on the fitness levels. The first half turned out to be a shoot out between Kilkenny's free-taker Richie Power and the aforementioned Dooley. This wasn't a dirty game, most of the frees awarded by Tipp referee Johnny Ryan were from minor infringements. The highlight from a Kilkenny supporter’s perspective was the outstanding display of the halfback line. JJ Delaney showed why he is a legend of a halfback. Jackie Tyrrell looked more than comfortable at No 6. The only grievance I have about his display was that maybe he could have directed his clearances a little lower, especially at the moment when our target men Henry, TJ, Gorta, Eoin Larkin etc are unavailable. I suppose this minor grievance might be borne out of his corner back role where he was always entitled to give his clearances plenty of muscle.
The Tullaroan wizard Tommy Walsh gave yet another 'man of the match' display on the other wing, his ability to pluck the ball from the sky is unreal. It's a lesson for any youngster — that you don't have to be 6ft plus to develop this skill. The backs in general won their battles hands down, they limited the Offaly attack to four points from play over the 70 minutes. They were so effective that our new look keeper PJ Ryan (white helmet ) never had a save to make. The fact Kilkenny had such dominance in this sector would lead one to believe that scores should have been easier to come by, unfortunately our forward division lacked cohesion on the day. They did land 1-17 but for the amount of possession on hand it was a poor return. The new look centerfield pairing of PJ Delaney and Willie O'Dwyer just about broke parity but the real problem ahead of the Tipperary clash is the lack of first choice players for the forward sector. I think it's fair to say a few of them didn't cut the mustard last Sunday. Michael Rice and Richie Power, until he went off injured, were the only two that could have been happy with their displays. Mind you Taggy Fogarty looked far more dangerous when he was back in his customary corner-forward position. Fogarty’s well taken goal after a defence splitting run by Michael Rice more or less killed off this tie.
The one thing the management won't be happy about last Sunday was the poor work ethic off the ball by the Kilkenny attack. I'm sure there will be a few harsh words before this Sunday's clash. The reappearance of Eddie Brennan would be a welcome addition, it's well documented that he married a Tipperary woman in the closed season, it will be divided loyalties in that house this weekend. I hope Eddie, if he is togging out, packs his own bag this Sunday morning! We wouldn't want him turning up with just one hurling boot.
This Kilkenny/Tipperary clash is one of the glamour ties in this year’s league but it's such a pity that so many of our first choice players are unavailable for selection. The fact that the Premier men went down so poorly against Dublin last weekend at Parnell Park could mean the Cats could be in line for a backlash. Many people didn’t see that result coming as Dublin had looked atrocious against Waterford only seven days earlier. This big scalp for the Dubs will do wonders for the promotion of the game in the capital and the two points attained give them a great platform to build on. Another victory would see them safe from relegation; mind you, their manager Anthony Daly probably has bigger aspirations than just avoiding the drop.
I tuned into Setanta on Saturday night to see the clash of Limerick and Cork. I must admit my main reason for watching was to see how the former Cork footballer, Michael Cussens would get on in his first hurling league game. To say that I was more than impressed would be putting it mildly, the 6'5" attacker notched up 1-5 from play in a 'man of the match' performance, for a big guy he certainly has a subtle touch. It's hard to understand why he wasn't brought into the set-up before now. For the past few year’s Cork have been missing a target man, himself and Aisake O hAilpaín have become hurling's answer to the twin towers. With these two guys on board, it now looks certain that Cork's famous running game will be curtailed this year (there won't be too many sorry for that ). There is no doubt that these two giants are going to cause a few headaches for defenders. We haven't even played Tipp and I'm already looking forward to the clash of Cussens and Brian Hogan and maybe Aisake and JJ. The League is always about trying out new talent, who knows maybe some fresh face from the Kilkenny panel will step up to the mark this Sunday in Thurles?
PS: I hope the legendary Fran Larkin recovers from his bout of flu in time for this Sunday’s game. His absence from Nowlan Park last Sunday was well noticed, mind you he didn't look too sick when he appeared on 'Sunday Sport' (helmets and high heels ) come on, Fran you can do better than that!
