The Cats’ run of bad luck continued over the weekend as they suffered a very disappointing defeat to Dublin in the Allianz Hurling League final on Sunday last. This was Dublin’s first league title since 1939 and well deserved as they gave an excellent display at Croke Park.
While Kilkenny were down to 14 men after 25 minutes this was no excuse as Dublin were by far the better side. The Metropolitans were on fire and were better in almost every position registering some excellent scores while holding Kilkenny to 1-1 from play.
The Dubs started well with early points from Ryan O'Dwyer and Paul Ryan before Eddie Brennan struck for a 10th minute goal. TJ Reid sent in a long range free and when Richie Hogan did well to catch the ball on the end line and slip it inside, Brennan was there to fire a ground shot to the net from close range.
Not a bit fazed Paul Ryan regained the lead for the Dubs with a 16th minute free, and added a point from play moments later.
With the Dublin defence in cruise control, their forwards hit Kilkenny with a display of superb point taking, hitting eight in succession before Kilkenny suffered a massive blow in the 25th minute when Eoin Larkin received a straight red card following an altercation with Conor McCormack.
There was a controversial finish to the first half with McCormack racing through the Kilkenny defence to blast to the net, only to discover that referee Michael Wadding had blown the half-time whistle seconds earlier. Dublin led by 0-11 to 1-02 at the interval. A Kilkenny revival was expected in the second half but this never really materialised as Dublin kept their extra man close to their full back line and maintained their lead as Kilkenny were restricted to frees from TJ Reid. In the final six minutes of added time the Metropolitans cut loose with a tally of points from substitutes David Treacy and Simon Lambert, captain John McCaffrey, and a long range point from Conal Keaney ended the Dubs’ 72 year wait for League honours. The final score Dublin 0-22, Kilkenny 1-7.
Scorers: Dublin: P Ryan 0-9 (5f ), C Keaney 0-3, R O'Dwyer, M O'Brien 0-2 each, D O'Callaghan, D Plunkett, C McCormack, J McCaffrey, D Treacy, S Lambert 0-1 each. Kilkenny: TJ Reid 0-5 (5f ), E Brennan 1-0, P Hogan (1f ) M Rice 0-1 each.
Kilkenny: D Herity, J Dalton, B Hogan, N Hickey, P Hogan, J Tyrrell, JJ Delaney, TJ Reid, M Rice, J Fitzpatrick, M Ruth, E Larkin, C Fennelly, E Brennan, R Hogan. Substitutes: M Kavanagh for JJ Delaney, J Mulhall for C Fennelly, P Murphy for M Ruth.
Dublin: G Maguire, N Corcoran, T Brady, P Kelly, J McCaffrey, J Boland, S Durkin, A McCrabbe, L Rushe, C McCormack, R O'Dwyer, C Keaney, D Plunkett, D O'Callaghan, P Ryan. Substitutes: M O'Brien for J Boland, D O'Dwyer for D Plunkett, D Treacy for A McCrabbe, S Lambert for L Rushe, S Ryan for D O'Callaghan.
Referee- M Wadding (Waterford ).
