Senior hurlers stage comeback but fall just short against Kilkenny

LEINSTER SHC SEMI-FINAL

KILKENNY 3-20 DUBLIN 2-22

Dublin went close to staging a remarkable winning comeback in Saturday's Leinster SHC semi-final.

After trailing by 15 points at half-time, 3-13 to 0-7, and by 16 early in the second half they summoned a fightback in the concluding quarter that brought them level with Daire Gray's point in the 71st minute.

However, the Cats steadied themselves with points from Alan Murphy and Huw Lawlor to edge two points in front before a Donal Burke finished the scoring after a bizarre game. Dublin now travel the qualifer route with the draw.

Deep in added time Dublin were awarded a free which though was moved forward Donal Burke's effort from 95 metres fell short and the Cats progressed.

"It wasn’t left behind in the second half – it was probably left behind in the first half. Some of the mistakes we made in the first half were punished hugely by Kilkenny, and that’s what they do," said Dubs manager, Mattie Kenny, afterwards.

“But, in fairness to the guys, they regrouped at half-time and they went out and put in a really, really good performance in the second half. The fight they showed, the character they showed - I think we were 15 points down and it wasn’t a very pleasant situation to be in,” he added.

First half goals from Billy Ryan, the influential TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly had Kilkenny cruising at the break and still by the second half water break it was very hard to see Mattie Kenny's men get into contention despite points from Cian Boland and two from Donal Burke (including one free) as the score stood at 3-15 to 0-11 in Kilkenny's favour.

Kilkenny star TJ Reid has been a scoring thorn in Dublin's side in recent SHC meetings and his first half display on Saturday was again central to the victory for Brian Cody's men - in the 2019 Leinster SHC clash he tallied 2-12 (0-11f, 1-0pen, 0-1 '65) in their 2-23 to 1-21 win while a year previously he amassed  0-12 (0-9f, 0-2 '65') in Kilkenny's 1-24 to 3-16 success. On Saturday evening he hit 1-10 (0-6f).

However, Dublin kept chipping away and two Burke frees, either side of a TJ Reid score, was followed by a point from impressive sub Eamonn Dillon before Ronan Hayes did well close to goal when fielding a long delivery from Donal Burke before turning on goal and weaving past two defenders to grab Dublin's first goal - 3-16 to 1-14 after 57 minutes.

Further points from Chris Crummey, a fine effort, and Donal Burke (free) closed the gap to two clear goals.

WIth six minutes to play Chris Crummey finished stylishly to the net for Dublin's second goal - batting a rebound past keeper Eoin Murphy after the Cats netminder had parried a drive from Donal Burke - and the Dubs were now on top with scores from Donal Burke (free) and two from Eamonn Dillon before Daire Gray equalised - 3-18 to 2-21 with three more minutes of added time to play.

But that was as good as it got for the Dubs in a frenetic finish with those points from Alan Murphy and Huw Lawlor enough to see Kilkenny into a provincial decider against Galway, victors over Wexford in teh second semi-final.

Dublin were transformed in this late spell, at odds with their display in the opening half when anything that could go wrong did.

The early exchanges were even with the sides level, 0-3 each, after eight minutes - Donal Burke (two, one free) and Cian Boland Dublin's scorers.

But the game turned totally Kilkenny's way with two quick-fire goals before the midpoint of the opening half with Billy Ryan and then TJ Reid striking goals.

Inside the last ten minutes of the first half Kilkenny were totally dominant with points from TJ Reid (two), Billy Ryan, Conor Delaney, Colin Fennelly and Walter Walsh propelling them into a 2-12 to 0-6 advantage.

It got worse before the interval with Colin Fennelly adding a third Kilkenny goal to see them into the break with 15 points to spare, 3-13 to 0-7.

Round 1 draw of theAll-Ireland SHC  will take place on Monday morning. It will be broadcast live on Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1 just after 8.30 am.

The Round 1 draw involves the six teams in the provincial hurling championship that did not reach their provincial final.

Leinster: Laois, Dublin, Wexford.

Munster: Clare, Cork, Tipperary.

Two Leinster teams, which shall include the beaten quarter-finalist Laois, will be drawn against two Munster teams, which shall include the beaten quarter-finalist Clare. The remaining two teams will get a bye to Round 2. Venues will be determined by the CCCC.

The fixture details (dates/times/venues) will be confirmed by the CCCC on Monday afternoon with the fixtures scheduled for the weekend of November 7^/8.

SCORERS – Kilkenny: TJ Reid 1-10 (0-6f), B Ryan, C Fennelly 1-1 each, J Donnelly, W Walsh 0-2 each, E Cody, C Delaney, A Murphy, H Lawlor 0-1 each. Dublin: D Burke 0-12 (0-10f), E Dillon 0-4, C Crummey 1-1, R Hayes 1-0, C Boland, D Gray 0-2 each, D Sutcliffe 0-1.
KILKENNY: E Murphy; H Lawlor, C Wallace, C Delaney; C Buckley, P Deegan, P Walsh; R Reid, C Fogarty; J Donnelly, E Cody, W Walsh; TJ Reid, B Ryan, C Fennelly. Subs: R Hogan for Ryan (51), M Keoghan for Cody (60), C Browne for Fogarty (64), A Murphy for Donnelly (64), R Leahy for R Reid (68).
DUBLIN: A Nolan; E O’Donnell, C O’Callaghan, J Madden; D Gray, P Smyth, C Burke; S Moran, R McBride; C Boland, D Burke, D Sutcliffe; C Crummey, D Keogh, L Rushe. Subs: E Dillon for Keogh (ht), R Hayes for Rushe (41), J Malone for Moran (50), M Schutte for Boland (59), F Whitely for McBride (70).
REF: J Murphy (Limerick).