Flashback: Dublin v Kilkenny Leinster Semi Final Replay 2013

By Conor Martin

Dublin meet a familiar foe in the form of Kilkenny at Parnell Park this Saturday. Looking back for inspiration, it’s hard to look past the two Dublin performances in the semi-final of the provincial championship back in 2013.

A last-gasp TJ Reid point denied Dublin a spot in the Leinster final, but in the replay the following weekend, the Dubs would take the spoils as we beat Kilkenny for the first time in the Championship since 1942.

Determined not to let a place in the final pass them by, Dublin hit the front foot in the replay before Conal Keaney, Paul Ryan and David O’Callaghan gave us a five-point lead by the 24th minute.

But in typical Kilkenny fashion, the Cats came roaring back thanks to Colin Fennelly and Kilkenny top-scorer Eoin Larkin got them back into contention.

However, Anthony Daly’s men would have the final say just before the break, as they stemmed the black and amber tide when O’Callaghan gave Dublin a 0-11 to 0-7 interval lead.

Kilkenny started brighter than Dublin in the second-half as the Sky Blues were left chasing shadows and by the 43rd minute, the gap was just two scores thanks to the talented Richie Power.

Ryan and Larkin exchanged points, with the latter reducing the gap between Dublin and Kilkenny to just a point.

Despite looking increasingly dangerous, Kilkenny wouldn’t level and Dublin would finally have the breathing space they had desperately craved when Danny Sutcliffe fired home after he reacted quickest to O'Callaghan's shot being cleared off the goal-line.

Larkin was ensuring Kilkenny weren’t going down without a fight and only two points separated Dublin and Kilkenny on the scoreboard with just three minutes to play.

Things would go from bad to worse for Kilkenny when Power saw red after his foul on Peter Kelly.

Dublin withstood the final Kilkenny blitz on their goals, with Liam Rushe in fine form snuffing out threatening Kilkenny attacks before O’Callaghan closed out the win with a massive free from distance to book Dublin’s place in the Leinster final.

Dublin would go on to win the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship for the first time since 1961, beating Galway 2-25 to 2-13 to deservedly claim the Bob O'Keeffe Cup for the 24th time.

Advancing straight into the All-Ireland semi-finals, despite raising a green flag and leading for a period of time, Dublin’s All-Ireland ambitions were ended by eventual All-Ireland runners-up Cork.

Scorers for Dublin: Paul Ryan 0-8 (0-6f), David O’Callaghan 0-4, Danny Sutcliffe 1-0, Conal Keaney, Shane Durkin, Mark Schutte, Eamonn Dillon (0-1f) 0-1 each

Scorers for Kilkenny: Eoin Larkin 0-12 (0-11f, 0-1 ’65), Richie Power 0-2, Colin Fennelly, TJ Reid 0-1 each

DUBLIN: Gary Maguire; Niall Corcoran, Peter Kelly, Paul Schutte; Stephen Hiney, Liam Rushe, Michael Carton; Johnny McCaffrey, Joey Boland; Conal Keaney, Ryan O’Dwyer, Danny Sutcliffe; Paul Ryan, David O’Callaghan, David Treacy

Subs: Conor McCormack for O’Dwyer (HT), Shane Durkin for Boland (46), Mark Schutte for Treacy (48), Eamonn Dillon for Ryan (64), Simon Lambert for McCaffrey (69)

KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Jackie Tyrell, JJ Delaney, Conor Fogarty; Tommy Walsh, Brian Hogan, Kieran Joyce; Cillian Buckley, Richie Power; Richie Hogan, Michael Rice, Eoin Larkin; Walter Walsh, TJ Reid, Aidan Fogarty

Subs: Lester Ryan for Buckley (22 mins), Colin Fennelly for Rice (26), Matthew Ruth for W Walsh (60), Padraig Walsh for Tyrell (60), Ger Aylward for Reid (64)

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)