Guilfoyle brace for Cats sees off brave Wexford effort

A FLURRY of scores during the third quarter put Kilkenny firmly in the driving seat and on their way to a second victory of the campaign at Nowlan Park on Saturday.

When Wexford were hit for 1-6 against a single point reply during the third quarter it was all over bar the shouting, and the Cats now head to Portlaoise on Friday to face Laois in very confident mood.

The losers employed centreback David Codd as a sweeper and when wind-assisted during the first-half they caused the opposition lots of problems.

First they fell 0-5 to 0-1 behind in the opening five minutes, but with Codd, Cian Molloy and top scorer AJ Redmond playing well they edged into a 0-9 to 0-6 lead in the 20th minute.

The scoring damage was done mainly by Redmond, but there were also contributions from Richie Lawlor and Thomas Murphy.

Twice Wexford kicked on into the lead, but they were never given much leeway.

Kilkenny struggled for scores for a good spell during the half. When Kelly pointed a free in the 17th minute he rescued them from arrears (0-6 each).

However, a strong finish saw them earn parity at 0-9 each at the break, after Darragh Maher and Ciarán Brennan (2) had the closing scores of the half.

Then they broke for home from the start of the secondhalf. A blast of points from Conor Kelly (2), Jack Morrissey, Padraig Dempsey, Eoin Doyle and Killian Hogan were added to by a 35th-minute goal from Eoin Guilfoyle.

By the 41st minute the gap had opened up and the lead was extended to eight (1-15 to 0-10). When Guilfoyfle pounced for the Noresiders’ second goal, the game was over as a contest.