Impressive Galway cut loose to skin hapless Cats again!
Galway 3-25Kilkenny 1-16 SOMETIMES, the National League doesn't lead us astray. Sometimes, tradition counts for nothing. That's what the Kilkenny hurlers found out to their cost at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For the second time in six weeks, the Cats departed Salthill with tails between their legs. An aggregate losing margin of 33 points brooks no argument. Kilkenny were humiliated again by a Galway team on a seriously upward curve.
Sure, this is probably the worst Kilkenny outfit we have ever seen but after their league thrashing in March, they would have been charged up in attempting to restore the team's reputation. We were braced for savage intensity from the men in black and amber.
It didn't happen. Yes, Kilkenny were committed but when you see Mikey Carey and Paddy Deegan being square pegs in round defensive holes, the reigning Leinster champions were trying to plug gaps in crisis fashion.
In the end, Kilkenny couldn't cope with Galway's cohesion or quality. They were second-best for long periods with Carey's black card near half-time and John Donnelly's red seconds after the resumption only adding to a nightmare trip west.
Granted, Kilkenny spurned a few goal chances – notably when Darach Fahy made a terrific reflex stop in opening-half stoppage-time from Eoin Cody and Daithi Burke through sheer force of will and strength somehow managed to keep the rebound from going over the line – and a numerical disadvantage was they last thing they needed, but Derek Lyng's charges were already desperately bailing water.
If Kilkenny’s heaviest championship defeat in 36 years was the headline grabber from this opening round Leinster clash in front of 10,489 supporters, it also offered confirmation of Galway's rapid progress this Spring. Apart from giving the Cats a lesson in heads-up hurling, they also ran the legs off their visitors.
Even allowing for Kilkenny's poverty, this was another statement of intent from Galway. Their players knew what they were doing on a day 14 of them – including four defenders – scored.
What's more, five Galway substitutes raised white flags as well and, if it was a surprise that Cathal Mannion didn't register, that should be viewed in a positive light. Too often lately, the All-Star has been carrying the scoring burden.
From the outside looking in, it appeared the team management had taken a risk by selecting Daithí Burke, Gavin Lee, Rory Burke and John Fleming given their lack of game time through injury over the past few weeks, but Micheál Donoghue and company knew what they were doing.
Only Fleming looked rusty as the other three all made major contributions, with Rory Burke's first championship start resulting in the RTE Player of the Match award. His haul of 2-2 was impressive by any standards.
The other Burke, Daithí, was awesome at the heart of the Galway defence, while Lee had a terrific first-half. With Ronan Glennon, Padraic Mannion and Darren Morissey also excellent at the back, the Kilkenny starting attack was restricted to just five points from play.
Another bonus for Galway was the impact of their new midfield alliance. Tiernan Killeen covered a lot of ground and did a lot of hurling, while Cian Daniels again did the simple things well, especially linking the play.
Up front, Rory Burke may have grabbed the headlines, but debutants Jason Rabbitte and Aaron Niland again impressed, while there was a renewed energy about Conor Whelan.
Cathal Mannion may not have scored, but Kilkenny never got to grips with his effective deep-lying role. Darach Fahy was only beaten by TJ Reid's second-half penalty, while Cillian Trayers recovered after some early difficulties.
Substitutes Darragh Neary and Conor Cooney – at opposite ends of the experience spectrum – both registered a brace of excellent points, with fellow reserves Colm Molloy, Tom Monaghan and Evan Niland also splitting the posts.
Though facing the wind, Galway were quick to settle. Padraic Mannion picked off a brilliant point inside two minutes, with Lee and Niland (free) also on target early on.
We didn't know it at the time, but in what proved Kilkenny's best spell of the match, they hit four unanswered points from Eoin Cody (two) and Reid (two) to jump into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead after 14 minutes.
A slight worry was Galway only registering three scores from their opening 10shots, but that statistic was reflecting their possession advantage and gradually it paid off.
Rabbitte, Niland (free) and Whelan were on target before a move involving Padraic Mannion, Daniels and Killeen culminated with Rory Burke leaving Deegan trailing in his wake before expertly beating Aidan Tallis at his near post.
It was a sign of Kilkenny's troubles that Reid still shaped as their most dangerous attacker, but he was gradually overpowered and, really, the game was up for the Cats when they trailed by 2-8 to 0-9 at the break.
Galway's second goal came from Burke's penalty in the 31st minute in the incident which led to Carey's black card and a yellow for Darragh Corcoran after both tried illegally to stop Niland's run.
With Daniels and Rory Burke tacking on points before the interval, Galway had already much of the heavy lifting done by half-time. And Kilkenny never looked like pulling the game out of the fire, especially after Donnelly's dismissal for a head-high challenge on Morrissey.
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In the third quarter, Galway fired over a series of points from Niland (three), Glennon – his first of two towering efforts – and Rory Burke before Rabbitte superbly rattled the net in the 48th minute after Cathal Mannion and Daniels did the spadework.
Subsequently, the only question was how much Galway would win by. Their subs came on and only added to Kilkenny woes with Daithí Burke, a real crowd-pleasing score, and Niland also driving home the message that there's a new sheriff in town in Leinster.
Galway: D Fahy; R Glennon (0-2), C Trayers, D Morrissey; P Mannion (0-1), D Burke (0-1), G Lee (0-1); C Daniels (0-1), T Killeen; R Burke (2-2, 1-0 pen), C Mannion, J Fleming; C Whelan (0-1), J Rabbitte (1-1), A Niland (0-8, 0-6f). Subs: K Hanrahan for Morrissey (inj. 36), T Monaghan (0-1) for Fleming (43), D Neary (0-2) for Rabbitte (56), C Molloy (0-1) for Niland (59), C Cooney (0-2) for Trayers (61), E Niland (0-1f) for R Burke (67).
Kilkenny: A Tallis; M Butler, M Carey, P Deegan; D Blanchfield, D Corcoran, R Reid; C Kenny (0-1), J Molloy (0-1); L Moore (0-1), J Donnelly, G Dunne; M Keoghan (0-1), TJ Reid (1-8, 1-0 pen, 0-7f), E Cody (0-2). Subs: T Clifford (0-1) for Dunne (h-t, K Doyle for Molloy (48), E McDermott for Moore (50), R Garrett for R Reid (52), S Donnelly (0-1) for Moore (61).
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)