Gavin Lee, Galway, and Gearoid Dunne, Kilkenny, in Allianz Hurling League action. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Allianz Hurling League Division 1A
Galway 2-19 Kilkenny 1-19
By Kevin Egan at UPMC Nowlan Park
Galway travelled to UPMC under a cloud after a harrowing first round defeat to Tipperary, while Kilkenny came back home with a spring in their step, having picked up their first win in Ennis in 16 years.
Even allowing for a completely revamped team selection from Galway manager Micheál Donoghue, that seemed like too much of a gap to bridge in the space of a week.
Nonetheless, the Tribesmen flipped that script in fine style this afternoon when they effectively beat Kilkenny twice in the one game; once when they controlled the tie for the first 45 minutes, moving eight points ahead when Declan McLoughlin slammed in the second of his two goals, and again at the death when they responded to Eoin Cody’s goal with the last four points in succession.
Had Kilkenny completed their smash and grab raid, Derek Lyng would have had every right to be very content with his team’s position after two games.
Martin Keoghan carried his exceptional Cusack Park form into this fixture with seven points from play, while Huw Lawlor and David Blanchfield were as dependable as ever in defence.
On the other side of the coin, Eoin Cody’s touch was not where it would normally be and the decision to deploy Paddy Deegan at midfield certainly didn’t work out as he would have hoped here either, with Cianán Fahy and Tom Monaghan getting the better of that sector.
Meanwhile Lyng was also learning plenty about some of the younger charges in his panel, with Pádraic Moylan and Adrian Tallis among the less-exposed figures that showed up well.
Among the nine changes that were made to the starting Galway team, three in particular yielded a bountiful harvest. Declan McLoughlin came off the bench in Pearse Stadium to nick a final quarter goal against Tipp and he started with another green flag here, slipping the ball inside Tallis’ near post in the third minute.
However the twin towers that drove Galway to this victory were Pádraic Mannion and Gavin Lee in defence, who between them picked up five points from play, three off the stick of Lee, who was picking up Eoin Cody.
Tom Monaghan also fired over three from midfield as Galway lorded proceedings in the middle third, sending good deliveries into the inside forward line for good measure.
McLoughlin aside, that approach wasn’t as productive, but at the other end, Kilkenny’s attack was much more one-dimensional. Martin Keoghan was exceptional, picking off five points from play in the first half, but he was ploughing a lone furrow and it was Kilkenny who were flattered by the half-time scoreline of 1-11 to 0-10.
While the error count continued to be high, the contest was much livelier from the start of the second half, with Galway extending their lead through a run of scores from Gavin Lee, John Cooney and Cianán Fahy, then putting real daylight between the sides through McLoughlin’s second goal, slammed to the net after Tallis parried John Cooney’s initial shot.
Regardless of who wears the black and amber jersey however, the residual quality that is their indomitability is evergreen. Billy Ryan and Shane Walsh both gave an injection of energy off the bench, they increased their control of the defensive sector to hold Galway scoreless for 18 minutes, and without ever looking like they were hurling with precision or crispness, they chipped away at the lead.
Darach Fahy repelled one Eoin Cody effort on goal with a superb save, but he could do nothing about the Ballyhale attacker’s second strike, whipped into the corner to draw the largest shout of the day from the crowd of 5,460.
Follow the formlines from last week, and that should have cooked Galway’s goose. Instead they dug deep, two barnstorming runs from Darren Morrissey earned frees that Jason Flynn converted, and it fell to Conor Whelan to drive over the clinching score that leaves this division finely poised after two rounds of games.
Scorers for Galway: Declan McLoughlin 2-2, Gavin Lee 0-3, Tom Monaghan 0-3, Jason Flynn 0-3 (3fs), Pádraic Mannion 0-2, Tiernan Killeen 0-1, John Fleming 0-1, Conor Cooney 0-1 (f), Cianán Fahy 0-1, John Cooney 0-1, Conor Whelan 0-1.
Scorers for Kilkenny: Eoin Cody 1-6 (6fs), Martin Keoghan 0-7, Cian Kenny 0-3, Peter McDonald 0-1, Pádraic Moylan 0-1, Luke Hogan 0-1.
Galway: Darach Fahy; Darren Morrissey, Gavin Lee, Shane Morgan; TJ Brennan, Fintan Burke, Pádraic Mannion; Tom Monaghan, Ciarán Fahy; John Fleming, Tiernan Killeen, John Cooney; Conor Cooney, Declan McLoughlin, Conor Whelan.
Subs: Daithi Burke for Brennan (52), Jason Flynn for J Cooney (54), Kevin Cooney for C Cooney (56), Seán Linnane for D Burke (61-65, blood), Seán Linnane for Fleming (66), Anthony Burns for McLaughlin (69).
Kilkenny: Aidan Tallis; Pádraic Moylan, Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor; Michael Carey, David Blanchfield, Zach Bay Hammond; Peter McDonald, Paddy Deegan; Martin Keoghan, Cian Kenny, Luke Connellan; Luke Hogan, Eoin Cody, Gearóid Dunne.
Subs: Shane Murphy for Bay Hammond (24), Billy Ryan for Hogan (half-time), Billy Drennan for Connellan (46), Harry Shine for Deegan (52), Eoghan Lyng for Moylan (61).
Referee: Tomás Walsh (Waterford).
