Dublin v Kilkenny- Dublin’s Road to the Leinster Final

By Conor Martin 

Micheál Donoghue, his Dublin team and the county are gearing up for this weekend’s Leinster Senior Hurling Final against Kilkenny at Croke Park (6pm)! 

It’s our first appearance in the finale of the provincial decider since 2021, when we lost out to this weekend’s opponents. 

So, to get in the mood for this huge game this Saturday at HQ, here's a look back at our route to the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Final 2024! 

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Our Leinster Championship journey began in April with a visit to Chadwicks Wexford Park to take on the Model County.

In the first-half, both teams enjoyed their own spells of dominance after Lee Chin converted a first-minute penalty for the home side. He and Rory O’Connor were Wexford’s only scorers in the first-half, but they were a big threat to the Dubs as they kept splitting the posts.

Dónal Burke and Cian O’Sullivan had got Dublin’s account up and running and after withstanding a period of five unanswered Wexford scores near the end of the first set of 35 minutes, Dublin would be level at the break when we hit a hat-trick of scores without reply, thanks to Dónal Burke, Danny Sutcliffe and Chris Crummey. 

The home side would enjoy a better second-half as Chin and O’Connor continued to find their range after the restart and thanks to Conor Hearne & Cian Byrne, by the 63rd minute, Wexford had a 1-19 to 0-17 lead.

Time was running out for Dublin to rescue something, but in the 65th minute, Dónal Burke sent a free sailing over the bar and Dublin went in search of completing an unlikely comeback. 

Chin would push the Wexford lead back to five deep into injury-time but in the same minute Sutcliffe found the net- the deficit was two and it was game on.

Cathal Dunbar responded with a score for Wexford, but just as it looked like all hope was lost, O’Sullivan fired home past Mark Fanning to rescue a point for Dublin! 

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Dublin were on the road again in our second outing of the Championship. This time it was a visit to Carlow’s Netwatch Cullen Park.

Starting slowly, Dublin found themselves 0-9-0-3 down after 16 minutes, as Carlow dominated the majority of the first-half, which included contributions from Jon Nolan and Martin Kavanagh. 

Dónal Burke, Sutcliffe and Seán Currie had kept Dublin in the game, whilst Daire Gray would score the Dubs final score of the half as Carlow led by four at the interval.

Dublin were much livelier in the second-half and Conor Burke got our second-half account up and running. 

By the 47th minute, we found ourselves in the lead for the first time thanks to a trio of scores from Dónal Burke and a score from Gray and Conor Burke.

Dublin never looked in danger of letting the lead slip and in the 59th minute, a Fergal Whitely goal put the Sky Blues six to the good and the match was over as a contest.

Chris Crummey, Eoghan O’Donnell and Dara Purcell would get Dublin’s final scores to see out our first win of the campaign in style.

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In the third round of action, we had our first run out at Parnell Park as we hosted Antrim, looking for a second successive win. 

Dublin hit the front foot and never looked back as they took the lead with just seconds on the clock, as Paul Crummey found the Saffrons net.

By the 27th minute, the visitors had just four points to their name, however, that would soon change when James McNaughton raised a green flag for his side. The Antrim goal wouldn’t have too much of an impact on Dublin as we continued our form in front of goals and led at the break 1-13 to 1-7.

Dublin simply had too much for Antrim to handle when the match restarted. O’Sullivan, Dónal and Conor Burke ensured Dublin’s ruthlessness in attack continued. As the second-half was coming to a conclusion, Brian Hayes and Dónal Burke would get the Dubs’ second and third goals of the game as Dublin saw off the Ulster county by 20 points, with Dónal Burke top-scoring for Dublin with 1-11. 

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Kilkenny were our next visitors to travel to Parnell Park and despite putting in an excellent shift, a late Eoin Cody goal would see the Cats take the points back to the Marble City.

Martin Keoghan and TJ Reid had helped Kilkenny into a healthy rhythm whilst doing their bit for Dublin were Sutcliffe, Dónal Burke and Chris Crummey. 

As the half went on, Conor Burke grabbed a goal on the stroke of 35 minutes to make it a real contest, and by the half-time whistle, Dublin were only behind by a point. 

It was Dónal Burke who led the Dublin charge when the teams came back out for the second-half, as he showed how deadly he can be from the dead ball. 

A Brian Hayes goal edged Dublin ahead, with the finish line approaching. 

Kilkenny responded, with the ever-reliable Reid alongside Keoghan looking the brightest for the visitors. They were helped by the efforts of John Donnelly and Billy Ryan, with the former putting the Cats up in the 66th minute. 

Another Dónal Burke free levelled things once more, but Cody would break the hearts of the Dublin faithful with his late-late goal as Dublin tasted defeat for the first time in this Championship. 

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In our final group stage game, we were faced the tough task of travelling to Galway to take on the Tribesmen at Pearse Stadium.

Undaunted and keen to keep the prospect of a Leinster final alive, Donoghue’s men put in a remarkable shift that didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the hurling world. 

Not for the first time this Championship, Dublin were celebrating an early goal thanks to Séan Currie, who had the ball in the net after a minute. 

His goal was followed up by a Whitely point before Galway got a grip on proceedings when they sent the ball over the black spot seven times before Dublin regathered and responded.

A red card for Galway’s David Burke in the 16th minute set the hosts back and soon the men from the capital had the game in the palm of their hands. 

Dónal Burke and Chris Crummey helped Dublin get back into the game which was followed by a Brian Hayes score that tied things up in Salthill. 

Both sides seemed to match whatever one another could throw at each other. Dónal Burke was our second goalscorer of the contest inside the final five minutes of the first-half. 

Despite that goal, it was the home side who would lead at halfway. 

Galway were blown away by the way Dublin started the second-half. Points from Chris Crummey, Ronan Hayes, Purcell and a point each from Sutcliffe & Dónal Hayes, turned the game on its head. 

The impressive Evan Niland tried to stem the tide with a flurry of scores but Dublin kept coming at Galway as Darragh Power came off the bench to join his teammates on the scorers list. 

Declan McLoughlin would be the Galway goalscorer with eight minutes on the clock left, but the Boys in Blue were not letting this one slip from their grasp. Paddy Smyth, Conor Donohoe and Colin Currie clearly didn’t want to miss out on the scoring action and did the needful. 

By the full-time whistle, there were an incredible 14 different Dublin scorers as Dublin finished the group stage and advanced to the Leinster final in the best possible fashion.

Dublin head into this weekend’s provincial final fully aware of how dangerous their opponents can be and will be looking to stifle the Cat’s attack as we go in search of our 25th Bob O’Keeffe Cup and a first Leinster title since 2013.

Dublin GAA - Road to the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Final 2024:

21st April 2024, Chadwicks Wexford Park, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 1, Wexford 1-21 (24) - 2-18 (24) Dublin

27th April 2024, Netwatch Cullen Park, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 2, Carlow 0-22 (22) - 1-24 (27) Dublin

11th May 2024, Parnell Park, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 3, Dublin 3-32 (41) - 1-18 (21) Antrim

18th May 2024, Parnell Park, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 4, Dublin 2-23 (29) - 1-28 (31) Kilkenny

26th May 2024, Pearse Stadium, Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 5, Galway 1-24 (27) - 2-27 (33) Dublin