Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NINE OUT OF 10 CATS
An almost flawless display from Kilkenny stuns the All-Ireland champions in Croke Park thriller
KILKENNY weathered the Limerick storm at Croke Park to reach the All-Ireland final for the first time in three years.
Remarkably, it’s the 18th time Brian Cody has led the Cats into the final and this will go down as one of the sweetest as they faced the fancied AllIreland, Munster and League champions.
At this same stage 12 months ago, the Shannonsiders staged a brilliant comeback to beat Cork in extra-time.
This time David Reidy had the chance to put Limerick ahead for the first time with two minutes gone of the five injury-time minutes played at the end of the second-half.
But Eoin Murphy saved from close-range and Huw Lawlor hacked the sliothar out for a ‘65. It was enough to see the Cats home. Kilkenny have still only lost just two AllIreland semi-finals under Cody (right) – both times to Galway. The last time it happened was in 2005.
On this occasion they were never behind from the moment TJ
Reid scored a free just 40 seconds in.
Limerick chipped away and chipped away and it made for a thrilling finale, but ultimately they have surrendered their crown – and Kilkenny will await in three weeks’ time winners of today’s clash between Wexford and Tipperary. In front of a 50,001 crowd that included new Open champion Shane Lowry and the Claret Jug, they built what proved to be an unassailable lead on the back of an opening 25 minute blitz of their rivals.
The Cats bossed affairs for the bulk of the first half and built an impressive eight-point lead on the back of TJ Reid’s metronomic free-taking and Colin Fennelly’s opportunist goal.
Reid’s sixth free, and seventh point overall, came in the 25th minute – and, with the threat of the celebrated Limerick half-forward line snuffed out, the champions looked to be in big trouble.
It took the outstanding Aaron Gillane – who finished with 1-9 – and Graeme Mulcahy to keep them afloat with hardthe
earned scores. Limerick had looked rusty from the throw-in, the result of four weeks without competitive action since the Munster final.
But the danger of humiliation appeared to jolt them into life.
Suddenly they found some rhythm and the process of chipping away at Kilkenny’s lead began when Richie Hogan failed to capitalise on a poor Nickie Quaid puck-out.
Moments later Gillane pointed with a free and Tom Morrissey followed up from play. Encouraged, Limerick kept coming and their cause was massively helped by the award of a penalty.
Diarmuid Byrnes’ free from his own 65 lacked the distance and direction to split the posts but, as it dropped into the 21, Lawlor wrapped an arm around Gillane’s neck.
Kelly immediately signalled for the penalty that was superbly struck by Gillane. Kilkenny finally mustered a response through Hogan, who had been very quiet and was taken off early in the second half.
But it was their first point in 12 minutes and it left Limerick only three points adrift at half-time.
That lead was down to just a single score within 10 minutes of the restart, as the Shannonsiders kept the pressure on and Gillane took advantage of indiscipline by the Cats.
John Kiely’s (left) men, however, wasted two great chances to draw level – the first from Kyle Hayes, in the 49th minute, and secondly by Hegarty, five minutes later.
Their rivals finally got their second wind and Adrian Mullen and Fennelly helped restore some breathing room and a five-point lead, only for Shane Dowling to wreak havoc yet again off the bench.
Latching onto a pass by Hayes in the 64th minute, Dowling found the back of the net with an excellent goal. Suddenly there were two points in it again, and game on.
Reidy narrowed that advantage to just one and then, on 72 minutes, had that chance to put Limerick ahead for the first time.
But it wasn’t to be, and there will be new champions crowned in Croker.