Div 1A Very National League- Round 5 Dublin V Kilkenny

Dublin v Kilkenny

Saturday Mar 29th 2pm O’Toole Park

Referee: Barry Nea

Dublin made 2 Changes from the published Team Sheet with Grace O’Shea returning after injury to replace Aisling O’Neill who picked up a slight injury against Galway. Aisling Maher started in place of Áine Rafter which was similar to the Galway game.

Dublin played against a very strong wind in the first half. Practically straight from the throw in Kilkenny went on the attack. Thankfully Eimear Hurley in the Dublin goal was alert and made 2 good saves within the 1st minute.

After absorbing the initial pressure it was Dublin’s Aoife McKearney who got the opening score of the game in the 4th minute after a strong run on the right wing.

It took until the 7th min before Kilkenny got their first score to level but they then went on to score 1-3 without reply over the next 10 minutes, all of which came from placed balls. For the Kilkenny goal Dublin’s defense seemed to switch off for a minute which allowed the Kilkenny sharp shooter, Laura Murphy to rifle the ball into the roof of the Dublin net from a 20m free. At the end of the 1st Quarter Dublin had 0-01 to 1-05. On 19 mins Aisling Gannon got Dublin’s second score of the game and 5 mins later Emma Moran scored a lovely point from a tight angle. However, Kilkenny were making good use of the wind by driving puck outs to the Dublin 20m line. On 28 mins a long ball in resulted in a pull down and Murphy dispatched the resulting penalty to stretch the lead to Dublin 0-04 Kilkenny 2-09.

Before the half time whistle, Dublin’s McKearney scored another point for Dublin from a free.

Half Time: Dublin 0-05 Kilkenny 2-11

2nd Half

During the half time break the weather improved a little which meant that Dublin wouldn't have the  advantage of the same very strong wind.

On 33 mins Kilkenny got the first score of the second half. 2 minutes later Sibéal Cherry who had replaced Aoife Heffernan put over a lovely shot from the right. Dublin were applying pressure on the short Kilkenny puck out which allowed them gain possession closer to goal. The forwards were working hard which yielded a turn-over ball. Sinead Wylde was unlucky not the raise a green flag after pulling on a bouncing ball as the Kilkenny defense scrambled to protect their goal.  McKearney scored the resulting 45.

Dublin kept chipping away at the Kilkenny lead. A few minutes later a similar situation arose but again the Dublin forwards were just unable to get the final touch to the sliotar in front of an empty goal.

On 43 mins McKearney popped over a point.  On 47 mins Emma Flanagan who had replaced Emma Moran played a beautiful ball from the right corner which was plucked out of the air by a sprinting Aisling Gannon. Gannon was unceremoniously pulled down in the box before she could get her shot away. Penalty for Dublin.

After a short delay Aoife McKearney shot low to the goalies right but unlike the earlier Kilkenny effort this time the shot was saved. Maybe this rattled McKearney as she missed her next 2 placed balls.

In an attempt to the close the gap, Dublin changed strategy and moved Aisling Maher out of her sweeper role while she also took over free taking responsibilities. This immediately paid dividends as Maher pointed her first free on 54. This was followed 2 mins later by a fine point from Gaby Couch after winning a ball in a ruck in mid field. Claire Gannon followed almost immediately to reduce the gap to 8 pts.

The aforementioned Aisling Maher did her best to threaten the Kilkenny goal but had to settle for 2 points even though her final attempt shaved the crossbar. Final score Dublin 0-14 Kilkenny 2-16.

Unfortunately this result means that Dublin will play in Division 1B league in 2026.

The team has a short break in their season before meeting today’s opponents again in the Leinster semi Final in a few weeks time.