KILKENNY IN CRUISE CONTROL
Cody’s Cats rubbish all talk of transition as they power past Cork
IF THIS is Kilkenny ‘in transition’ then heaven help the rest. Relegation how are you. When Kilkenny were in their pomp and in the throes of a four-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles at the tail end of the last decade, the talk was that the second best team in Ireland were numbers 16 to 30.
With half of the match day squad from last September’s final replay missing for different reasons, last night’s Allianz League opener away to Cork then was a proper test of the depth of talent at Brian Cody’s disposal. And boy did they answer in style. They were full value for the victory at Páirc Uí Rinn, leading from the front and withstanding a late Cork rally that saw substitute Luke O’Farrell thieve a goal against the run of play and then Conor Lehane do the same in injury time.
With Richie Hogan and Mark Kelly doing serious damage down the other end, it was too little too late.
For all the talk of Kilkenny in ‘transition’, eight of the team that defeated Tipperary in last September’s All-Ireland final were on show, including the official Man of the Match from that game Kieran Joyce and the Hurler of the Year Richie Hogan.
So this was far from a team of mugs. In fact, there wasn’t a single rookie in the starting 15.
To fill the void left by the retired JJ Delaney, manager Brian Cody thrust the number three jersey upon Paul Murphy and he rarely looked flustered.
The quality of score-taking early on was the distinguishing feature.
Paudie O’Sullivan’s six minutes in was a prime example, the full-forward ghosting into space behind Murphy to clip over a delightful point from a tight angle.
For all the talk about Kilkenny needing a full-back, it was Cork who looked suspect under a route-one ball.
And the home side conceded after just nine minutes. Walter Walsh picked the ball up 25 metres out and drove for goal. Despite shipping a shoulder he barrelled through and fired a shot that Anthony Nash saved, but lost control in trying to scramble it clear. Jonjo Farrell was quickest following up and he smuggled it over the line.
A few minutes later the same player reacted quickest to a breaking ball around the square. When he was wrapped around the neck by Christopher Joyce, referee James Owens had no option but to award a penalty and issue the Cork full-back a yellow card.
Richie Hogan stepped up to take the strike but, in keeping with the trend since penalties have to be struck from outside the 20 metre line, his shot was saved by Nash.
The one-on-one penalty on the Congress clár later this month can’t come quickly enough because the current rule is a crock.
Hogan, so direct in his running, later picked up a ball inside the Cork 65 and just accelerated past the tackle to fire over on the run, reminding everyone present of his class.
Patrick Horgan’s effortless freetaking kept Cork in touch and the Glen Rovers player added a super point from play as well.
The touch and movement of the Cork forwards was top level, Conor Lehane firing over a brace of sweet points and Alan Cadogan doing the same.
A booming Horgan free from all of 80 metres levelled it coming up to half-time before Mark Kelly got the best point of a Kilkenny scoring burst to push his side into a 1-11 to 0-12 lead at the interval.
Kieran Joyce showed a dead-eye for a centre-back, thumping over a score from long range to push Kilkenny further ahead before Séamus Harnedy replied to ensure each of the Cork starting six forwards had their name on the scoresheet.
But Kilkenny just seemed to find scores that bit easier to come by. After Tomás Keogh chased down Patrick Horgan who looked certain to score, Kilkenny got a big point from the turnover, Walter Walsh splitting the posts from distance.
He continued to give Mark Ellis his fill of it, adding another soon after as Kilkenny put real daylight between the sides for the first time. By the time Richie Hogan flighted over another free on 47 minutes, Kilkenny were seven to the good, 1- 17 to 0-13, Cork throwing on Lorcan McLoughlin to try and regain control around midfield.
Jimmy Barry Murphy threw on further cavalry in the shape of O’Farrell and Cian McCarthy, but Cork had lost their shape and fluidity.
And then, with just eight minutes left on clock, O’Farrell angled
his hurley brilliantly to flick a long ball in from Cormac Murphy to the net.
Mark Kelly had the chance to respond in kind for Kilkenny only to see netminder Nash make a reaction stop.
Seamus Harnedy then flashed a goal effort wide with the clock counting down and Cork trailing by three but Kilkenny had put enough distance between themselves and their opponents before Lehane grabbed a late, late goal that couldn’t change the result. KilKenny: E Murphy; T Keogh, P Murphy, J Tyrrell; B Kennedy, K Joyce, C Buckley; C Fogarty (G Brennan 17), L Ryan; P Walsh, W Walsh, M Ruth; M Kelly, JJ Farrell, R Hogan. yellow CardS: 0 wideS: 4 (1) SCorerS: R Hogan 0-11 (7fs, 1 65), JJ Farrell 1-0, M Kelly 0-4, W Walsh 0-3, M Ruth, K Joyce, L Ryan, P Walsh 0-1 each CorK: A Nash; D Cahalane (S O’Neill 58), C Joyce, C O’Sullivan; C Murphy, M Ellis, A Walsh; D Kearney, P Cronin (L McLoughlin 45); S Harnedy, B Cooper (C McCarthy 49), C Lehane; A Cadogan (S Moylan 65), P O’Sullivan (L O’Farrell 49), P Horgan. yellow CardS: C Joyce 13; D Cahalane 36, C O’Sullivan 53 wideS: 5 (5) SCorerS: P Horgan 0-9 (8fs), C Lehane 1-2, L O’Farrell 1-0, A Cadogan 0-2, P O’Sullivan, B Cooper, D Kearney, S Harnedy 0-1 referee: J Owens (Wexford) attendanCe: 8,773