Senior hurlers secure Leinster final spot

LEINSTER SHC SEMI-FINAL

DUBLIN 1-18 GALWAY 1-14

Dublin delivered an excellent display to book their berth in the Leinster SHC final courtesy of this semi-final victory at Croke Park on Saturday afternoon.

Mattie Kenny's men will face Kilkenny, extra-time victors over Wexford in Saturday's double-header, in two weeks' time in their provincial decider.

Work-rate, defensive structure and team play were the hallmarks which underpinned this Dublin display, attributes that will be required in even larger measures in the upcoming provincial decider.

Both sides were slow to settle with the opening score not coming until the ninth minute when Dublin's Cian O'Sullivan got his side up and running.

Before then Galway's Joe Canning had gone for goal on two occasions but was brilliantly denied by Alan Nolan. The St Brigid's netminder enjoyed a highly influential game - also pointing a free from his own '45' as well as also making a late save to frustrate Niall Burke.

By the first water stoppage Dublin had opened up a 0-4 to 0-1 lead with Daire Gray, Cian Boland and Rian McBride also finding the target.

Wing-back Gray was to add a second point on the restart as he continues to make a habit of landing long-range efforts from the left wing or when advancing from in off the left flank.

When the impressive Conor Burke added to Dublin's tally Mattie Kenny's men were 0-6 to 0-1 to the good by the 20th minute.

By the half-time break Galway had cut the deficit to 0-8 to 0-6 with Conor Cooney, Joe Canning (free and '65') and Conor Whelan all on the mark.

Alan Nolan's reflexes were tested again by the Galway attack, this time he s tooped a Joe Cooney effort.

Dublin restarted impressively with points from Ronan Hayes, Donal Burke with an excellent score under pressure, Alan Nolan's massive free and a Donal Burke free to make it 0-12 to 0-7 after 40 minutes.

However, Galway struck for a Conor Whelan goal in the 43rd minute but importantly the influential Danny Sutcliffe replied with a point.

Dublin's goal came in the 52nd minute when Chris Crummey timed his run to come onto a great crossfield pass from Oisín O'Rorke, the Lucan Sarsfields clubman still had work to do but found the target with an angled drive as Galway keeper Eanna Murphy and defender Fintan Burke closed in.

Heading into the second-half water-break Dublin were 1-14 to 1-10 on top. Ronan Hayes extended that margin on the restart following good work by Chris Crummey.

Dublin lost inspiring defender Eoghan O'Donnell to injury with just over ten minutes of normal time remaining, Cian Boland had been a first-half injury casualty.

Pádraic Mannion closed the gap but two Donal Burke scores (one from play, one free) gave Dublin a six-point lead by the 62nd minute.

Points from Conor Whelan and Aidan Harte closed that to four but Danny Sutcliffe quelled any late nerves with a brilliant following good defensive play from the influential Liam Rushe.

Afterward Mattie Kenny paid tribute to Dublin defender James Madden, whose father Noel was buried on Friday.

"Not only is he (Madden) a top hurler but he's a top, top person as well," said Kenny.

"It was James' decision. I talked to James a couple of days ago and he said his Dad, Noel, would have wanted him to play.

"You can't get too emotional when you're playing hurling. But with James, I'm sure there's a lot of emotion now and a lot of emotion after the game.

"And his mum Helen and his sister Áine, I'm sure they're really, really proud of him, as well as all the Madden family are. He put in a really top performance today in difficult circumstances."

SCORERS - Dublin: D Burke 0-6 (0-4f), D Sutcliffe 0-3, C Crummey 1-0, D Gray, R Hayes 0-2 each, A Nolan (0-1f), C Burke, R McBride, C Boland, C O’Sullivan 0-1 each. Galway: J Canning 0-6 (0-4f, 0-1 65), C Whelan 1-2, E Niland (0-1f) 0-2, P Mannion, C Mannion, C Cooney, A Harte 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: A Nolan; P Smyth, E O’Donnell, C O’Callaghan; D Gray, L Rushe, J Madden; R McBride, C Burke; D Burke, C Crummey, D Sutcliffe; C Boland, R Hayes, C O’Sullivan. Subs: M Schutte for Boland (inj, 31), O O’Rorke for O’Sullivan (52), A Dunphy for O’Donnell (inj, 58), J Malone for Madden (68), P Crummey for C Crummey (72), F Whitley for Hayes (75).

GALWAY: E Murphy; S Cooney, G McInerney, D Morrissey; F Burke, D Burke, P Mannion; S Loftus, C Mannion; J Canning, C Cooney, A Tuohey; J Cooney, C Whelan, B Concannon. Subs: David Burke for Tuohey (34), E Niland for Loftus (ht), TJ Brennan for F Burke (57), A Harte for J Cooney (61), N Burke for C Cooney (67).

REF: J Murphy (Limerick).