KAVANAGH STARS IN CARLOW SHOCK

CARLOW caused the shock of the senior hurling championship at Netwatch Cullen Park when they held Kilkenny to a draw in a pulsating encounter.

The pre-match favourites looked to be in total control when Martin Keoghan opened the scoring with a point and Owen Wall followed up with a goal.

Chris Nolan’s seventh-minute point for the home side was important and while they trailed by six points on 28 minutes, they were still causing problems for Kilkenny, who had Killian Doyle sent off for an off-the-ball foul.

Three points each from Chris Nolan and Marty Kavanagh kept Carlow in touch and at the interval Kilkenny led 1-11 to 0-9.

A Fiachra Fitzpatrick 36th-minute point had Carlow believing in themselves and while they struggled at times with Kilkenny’s short-passing and possession game, they were not going away.

Possibly if Tom Phelan had found the net with 17 minutes to go, that would have settled Kilkenny, but Brian Tracey, the Carlow ’keeper, made a great point-block.

Leading Carlow scorer Kavanagh had a hand in his side’s goal. When his shot was blocked, Conor Kehoe was on hand to force the sliotar over the line.

From there, Carlow won the battle of wills. TJ Reid scored the final two points for Kilkenny to put them two clear, but the home side refused to contemplate defeat.

James Doyle was on hand to make it a one-point game and, on 75 minutes, a moment of petulance from a Kilkenny player saw a free being awarded. On the 45-metre mark, Kavanagh gave Carlow an historic draw with his free just curling inside the right-hand upright.

Scorers – Carlow: M Kavanagh 0-9 (1 ’65, 8f); C Nolan 0-4; C Kehoe 1-0; F Fitzpatrick 0-2; K McDonald (f), J M Nolan, James Doyle, P Boland and D Murphy 0-1 each.

Kilkenny: TJ Reid 0-6 (4f); O Wall 1-3; M Keoghan, C Kenny 0-3 each; T Phelan 0-2; H Lawlor, B Ryan and S Murphy 0-1 each.