Kilkenny 2-19 Waterford 1-16
Kilkenny have once again booked their place in the All-Ireland final, as Brian Cody’s men overcame spirited opposition from their neighbours, Waterford, in Croke Park last Sunday.
In the end, the six-point margin was perhaps closer than many would have liked, but as Brian Cody might say, in a results-driven business, a win is a win.
Kilkenny went into the tie as comfortable favourites, with Waterford retaining their underdog status from the quarter final, in which they dismissed a much-vaunted Galway side.
An early Richie Hogan goal gave Kilkenny the perfect start. The Danesfort man took his goal well, charging through the middle of the Waterford defence on the end of Eoin Larkin’s ball, to hit home from close range.
Unanswered points from Henry Shefflin and Michael Fennelly brought the scoreline to 1-2, 0-0 after just six minutes. Thoughts of the route suffered at the hands of Tipperary in the Munster final must surely have crept into one or two Waterford heads at that stage.
To the Deise men’s credit, however, they didn’t buckle, nor did they switch to a damage limitation mentality.
John Mullane led the resurgence, calling his teammates to arms, and himself weighing in with a goal. By the 31st minute, the deficit had been reduced to just two points, standing at 1-9, 1-7.
Indeed, Mullane had a very fine game by any standards, contributing 1-6 in total, and battling defiantly to the bitter end.
Teammate Shane Walsh buzzed around looking to get on the end of everything, but Noel Hickey coped with the younger man’s pace well, by and large.
Tommy Walsh was on hand to provide his innumerable trademark catch-and-clears – in doing so launching a number of successful Kilkenny counter-attacks, and keeping the Deise forwards chasing shadows.
David Herity was outstanding on the day, making a number of vital saves that could have drastically altered the game’s trajectory. He dominated his area under every long ball in, and coped admirably with a constant abruptly physical challenge to his clearances.
Up front, Richie Hogan’s two goals could not have been more timely, coming at critical junctures in the match to boost Kilkenny’s morale and hammer that of their opponents. At 3’ and 34’ respectively, Kilkenny scored at the very beginning of the game to lay down an early marker, and again just before half time, giving them a the psychological edge going into the dressing room.
But Waterford, even while narrowing the scoreline late on, never really looked like a team that had the beating of Kilkenny. And in a way, at some point in the game they seemed to realise that themselves.
With 12 minutes to go, when Stephen Molumphy had a chance on goal it was surely time to try and seize the moment. Not a single person in the stadium expected him to do anything less than try to send it goalwards. Yet, as time drained away, he elected instead to point, and the deficit then stood at 2-16, 1-10.
Watching this match, you felt – or at least hoped – that if Waterford made a real push for it, Kilkenny had another gear or two in them.
The old questions of a successful team’s hunger will no doubt arise again, in the wake of a display that, at times, looked a little undercooked. Kilkenny hit a total of 17 wides in the game – an unusually high quantity for a team of this calibre.
At times, the Cats looked uncharacteristically hesitant under the Waterford high ball, with the Deise men coming off the better in a number of exchanges that you felt Kilkenny should have handled comfortably. A Waterford goal in the last few minutes could have turned the game on its head.
But perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye. It’s a sporting cliché at this stage, but it is important for a side to not peak too soon.
If Kilkenny can dismiss Waterford without turning it all on, the better for it. Cody’s men will not want to show any potential opponents their full arsenal until they face each other.
In all, Kilkenny did enough, but this was far from vintage stuff. They will be conscious that to overcome their most likely of final opponents – favourites Tipperary – a performance of a higher quality will be required of them.
The gauntlet has been thrown down. Tipp and Dublin now know, that whatever happens this weekend, the Cats will be waiting.
