Cats cruise to 3 in a row

Kilkenny captured their third All-Ireland title in a row with a devastating 3-30 to 1-13 annihilation of Waterford at Croke Park on Sunday.

Devastating. Awesome. Stunning. Kilkenny once again had the hurling world reaching for superlatives after their All-Ireland final destruction of Waterford. The three-in-a-row was achieved with the cold, calculated ruthlessness of a back alley assassin. And once again the Cats saved their very best for the first Sunday in September in Croke Park – which is fast turning into a shrine to their brilliance.

It was the greatest performance of Brian Cody’s reign, the Kilkenny manager admitted after watching his players shred Waterford’s All-Ireland dreams with a performance that brought hurling to a new level.

“It is without a shadow of a doubt [the greatest performance he has presided over],” said the Kilkenny boss. “To come up here on All-Ireland final day against Waterford and to play at that level on that day, a day which by its very nature brings a lot of pressure and a lot of concerns, it’s a big day, it’s the day of days for all hurlers, and to come and hit the pitch running like that was something we would love to have to have been able to visualise beforehand. But it was an outstanding performance without a shadow of a doubt, yeah.”

Where does one start in an assessment of this Kilkenny performance? Their clinical accuracy is as good as any. Kilkenny took 35 shots at goal over the course of the afternoon and 33 found their intended target. They hit just two wides. Remarkable. Their economy in possession was a feature too. There was no profligacy, no panic and no desire to shoot from out the field when team-mates were in better positions.

Martin Comerford, who was taken off in the second half with a leg injury, was their only player with number eight or higher on his back not to score. Henry Shefflin, Eddie Brennan and Eoin Larkin shared the scoring responsibilities, and shouldered the arduous work-rate, like a well-drilled communist-era machine.

Waterford, for their part, finished with just three different names on the scoresheet. Eoin Kelly hit 1-9 but scarcely got a puck of the ball, while John Mullane’s three points from play came only at the death when the game was all but over as a contest.

Mullane got Waterford’s first point from play after 46 minutes, a stat that was put into context when TJ Reid, on the field a matter of minutes, had a point of his own from play for the Cats a minute later. Reid finished with four points, having been introduced in place of Comerford, and it was a cameo that that rammed home the sinking feeling for all those not of a black and amber persuasion, that Kilkenny can go on to dominate the game for years to come. Cody has assembled a squad that has no fault lines, nor a chink in its bullet proof armour.

Perhaps there is a four-in-a-row to come, the first since Cork managed it in the ’40s. There will be no retirements in the Kilkenny camp, just an unquenchable desire for more success from a side that still has youth on its side. Scary.

Waterford’s All-Ireland dreams took a nightmarish turn from the off. Their first big day out in 45 years was supposed to end in a coronation for the nearly men of hurling. Instead, there was just despair and the sinking suspicion that this team will struggle to ever make it to this stage again.

Kilkenny’s dominance was perfectly illustrated by a Derek Lyng point after 16 minutes. Shefflin plucked a high ball from the sky with a sublime piece of stickwork. Surrounded by Waterford players, Shefflin opted to find Lyng, who was in a better position, rather than waste the opportunity.

It is common practise to try and pinpoint a turning point in the game, a seminal moment that swung the game in one team’s favour. There was none, just Kilkenny’s unbendifng well and relentless drive to the finish line. They hit with ferocity and hunted in packs, nullifying Waterford’s decision to play their half-back line close to the full-back line.

The first goal came after 21 minutes. It stemmed, as usual, from Kilkenny winning primary possession from a Waterford puck out. Tommy Walsh was destroying Seamus Prendergast and again he won a high ball before offloading to Eoin Larkin, who negotiated a path through the gossamer-thin Deise defensive lines. Larkin was eventually stopped by Declan Prendergast on the edge of the square, but he managed to flick the ball inside to Brennan, who shortened the stick and placed the ball beyond Clinton Hennessy.

Brennan has a tendency to flit in and out of games, and he was at it again on Sunday. The Graig Ballycallan clubman was on hand again a minute later when Aidan Fogarty had found himself clean through on goal only to be denied by Hennessy. The loose ball, however, fell to ‘Fast’ Eddie, who swept home beyond the Waterford goalkeeper.

Referee Barry Kelly waved away Waterford penalty claims shortly afterwards. Eoin McGrath won the ball deep in the Kilkenny half and flicked inside to Dan Shanahan but he met a black and amber brick wall in the shape of Michael Kavanagh and Noel Hickey when the chance of a goal presented itself. The Kilkenny full-back line was awesome throughout, leaving Shanahan, Mullane and Eoin Kelly feeding on a diet of scraps.

Kilkenny kept landing scoring shots and by the time the half-time whistle went, they were 2-16 to 0-5 ahead, having hit just one wide in the half and restricted Waterford to five points from placed balls.

Fitzgerald introduced Jack Kennedy and Shane O’Sullivan at the break, while Ken McGrath was moved into centre-forward and the two Eoins, Kelly and McGrath, were moved out to the middle of the field in an attempt to win more ball. Eoin Kelly opened the second half scoring with a free, but Shefflin, Lyng and Reid hit back just as quickly for the Cats.

Larkin ended any Waterford hopes of a revival with a devastating third goal after 49 minutes, his stunning run bettered by a comprehensive finish to the back of the net.
Paul Flynn came on for Waterford and Kilkenny promptly responded with five scores without reply. Leading by 22 points with nine minutes remaining, Cody made a remarkable gesture by introducing sub goalkeeper James McGarry, the man who tragically lost his wife in a car accident last year, to massive applause.

Waterford hit three points in the closing minutes to add some respectability to the scoreline, before Eoin Kelly found the back of the net after McGarry had misjudged the flight of a seemingly innocuous effort. As if to reassert their complete dominance, Larkin Brennan and Aidan Fogarty all added late points to wrap up a devastating 23-point Kileknny win.

Scorers for Kilkenny: J Fitzpatrick 0-2, D Lyng 0-3, R Power 0-2, E Larkin 1-4, E Brennan 2-4, H Shefflin 0-8 (0-5f, 0-1 ’65), A Fogarty 0-3, TJ Reid 0-4.

Kilkenny: PJ Ryan; M Kavanagh, N Hickey, J Tyrell; T Walsh, B Hogan, JJ Delaney; J Fitzpatrick, D Lyng; M Comerford, R Power, E Larkin; E Brennan, H Shefflin, A Fogarty.

Subs: TJ Reid for M Comerford ’44, J McGarry for PJ Ryan ’61.

Scorers for Waterford: E Kelly 1-9 (0-9f), J Mullane 0-3, D Bennett 0-1.

Waterford: C Hennessy; E Murphy, K McGrath, D Prendergast; A Kearney, T Browne, K Moran; M Walsh , J Nagle; D Shanahan, S Prendergast, S Molumphy; E McGrath , E Kelly, J Mullane.

Subs: J Kennedy for S Prendergast HT, S O’Sullivan for J Nagle HT, T Feeney for D Prendergast ’63, D Bennett for D Shanahan ’63, P Flynn for E mcGrath ’52.

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)

Attendance: 82,186

0-2, D Lyng 0-3, R Power 0-2, E Larkin 1-4, E Brennan 2-4, H Shefflin 0-8 (0-5f, 0-1 ’65), A Fogarty 0-3, TJ Reid 0-4.

Kilkenny: PJ Ryan; M Kavanagh, N Hickey, J Tyrell; T Walsh, B Hogan, JJ Delaney; J Fitzpatrick, D Lyng; M Comerford, R Power, E Larkin; E Brennan, H Shefflin, A Fogarty.

Subs: TJ Reid for M Comerford ’44, J McGarry for PJ Ryan ’61.

Scorers for Waterford: E Kelly 1-8 (0-8f), J Mullane 0-3, D Bennett 0-1.

Waterford: C Hennessy; E Murphy, K McGrath, D Prendergast; A Kearney, T Browne, K Moran; M Walsh , J Nagle; D Shanahan, S Prendergast, S Molumphy; E McGrath , E Kelly, J Mullane.

Subs: J Kennedy for S Prendergast HT, S O’Sullivan for J Nagle HT, T Feeney for D Prendergast ’63, D Bennett for D Shanahan ’63.

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)

Attendance: 82,186