Kilkenny 2-27 Dublin 0-11: Dublin Kilkenny bounced back to winning ways in style at Parnell Park yesterday, as they cruised to a massive 22-point victory over Dublin in Division One A of the Allianz Hurling League.
The first 12 minutes set Kilkenny up for the rout, as they had already built up a 1-7 to 0-1 advantage by that stage.
Two of those early Kilkenny scores came in the first minute alone, with their opening goal then coming in the 5th minute, when Cathal Billings failed to clear Brian Barry's long free, allowing Eoin McCormack to hook the ball in from close range.
However, after their initial 12-minute blitz, Kilkenny began to slow down, and with Dublin beginning to up their performance considerably, the game evened out into a much more competitive contest for a spell, with Dublin actually outscoring Kilkenny 0-5 to 0-4 over the remainder of the half.
That still meant Kilkenny were 1-11 to 0-6 up though, but aided by two fine Emmet Carroll points early in the second half, Dublin were able to reduce that gap further, with Kilkenny just 1-12 to 0-9 up after 41 minutes.
However, just as Dublin began to see Kilkenny in their sights, the Cats raced away once more, as they knocked over eight unanswered points in an eight minute, with seemingly effortless ease.
Kilkenny's second wind was inspired by Martin Comerford, who caused all sorts of problems for the Dublin full-back line when he moved to the full-forward position after starting wing-forward.
DUBLIN: G Maguire; C Billings, T Russell, S O'Shea; K Elliott, S Daly, G Bennett; G O'Meara, C Meehan; D Curtin (0-5), S Hiney (0-1), F Chambers; E Carroll (0-3), M Breathnach (0-2), J Kingston. Subs: D Spain for Chambers (31 mins); Derek O'Reilly for Bennett, yellow card (32 mins); S Mullen for Kingston (43); C Hennebry for Russell (55), E Moran for Carroll (67); Damien O'Reilly for Billings (67); E Moran, yellow card (68 mins no subs remaining).
KILKENNY: J McGarry; M Phelan, N Hickey, J Ryall; J Tyrell, JJ Delaney, R Mullally; D Lyng (0-3), B Barry (0-3); M Comerford (0-6), E Larkin (0-9), T Walsh (0-3); E McCormack (2-3), J Hoyne, C Phelan. Subs: C Herity for Hoyne (54 mins).
YELLOW CARDS: Dublin: G Bennett (32 mins), E Moran (68 mins, no subs remaining).
Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath)
