Eoin Cody of Kilkenny during the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 1 match between Kilkenny and Galway at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile.
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 1
KILKENNY 3-24 GALWAY 0-21
Kilkenny ran out surprisingly one sided winners over Galway in the opening round of the Leinster Championship at a wet and damp UPMC Nowlan Park this afternoon.
Eoin Cody, Adrian Mullen and Mossy Keoghan all found the net for the Cats as Derek Lyng’s men overpowered a disappointing Galway side.
The final 12 point margin didn’t look likely for a lot of the opening half as Galway kept pace with the hosts as the likes of Cathal Mannion, John Fleming and Cianan Fahy showed well for the Tribesmen but that early promise soon disappeared with the Cats taking over on the scoreboard.
Adrian Mullen’s 4th minute goal when he took advantage of a mistake by Galway stopper Darach Fahy gave the home side an early buffer to lead 1-1 to 0-2 but it wasn’t until the likes of Jordan Molloy, Cian Kenny, John Donnelly and Fionan Mackessy who was making his championship debut at this level all scored in the second quarter that Kilkenny got some breathing space.
By the end of a first half that they led 1-14 to 0-11, the defending Leinster champions saw both their two midfielders and six starting forwards all finding the target from play but it wasn’t all positive news with Adrian Mullen and Shane Murphy both going off with injuries that look set to keep them sidelined for a couple of weeks at least.
Three second half points on the trot via Mikey Carey and two from Eoin Cody immediately on the resumption gave Kilkenny a nice nine point lead and while Galway threatened to stage a comeback with efforts from Mannion and Conor Whelan, the home side always kept them at arms length and Eoin Cody’s fine individual goal in the 58th minute all but ended the game as a contest.
Galway rallied with late scores from Mannion, Gavin Lee and sub Conor Cooney but this was Kilkenny’s day and it was rounded off in style when Luke Hogan pointed off the bench and Mossy Keoghan got his side’s third goal in stoppage time.
With Shane Murphy and Adrian Mullen both hobbling off and TJ Reid also sitting out the game, Kilkenny aren’t without their injury issues but they’ll still be content with their afternoon’s work while Galway look to get their season back on track when they travel to Tullamore next Saturday.
Scorers for Kilkenny: Eoin Cody (1-5, 2fs), Martin Keoghan (1-2), Fionan Mackessy (0-4, 1f and 1 '65), Adrian Mullen (1-0), Jordan Molloy (0-3), Billy Ryan, Cian Kenny, Mikey Carey, Stephen Donnelly (0-2 each), John Donnelly, Luke Hogan (0-1 each)
Scorers for Galway: Cathal Mannion (0-10, 6fs), Cianan Fahy, John Fleming, Conor Cooney (0-2 each), Conor Whelan, Declan McLoughlin, Tiernan Killeen, TJ Brennan, Gavin Lee (0-1 each)
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Shane Murphy; Mikey Carey, Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; Adrian Mullen, John Donnelly, Fionan Mackessy; Billy Ryan, Martin Keoghan, Eoin Cody. Subs: Stephen Donnelly for Mullen, 17 mins; David Blanchfield for S.Murphy, 22 mins; Tommy Walsh for Blanchfield, 61 mins; Harry Shine for J.Donnelly, 63 mins; Luke Hogan for Ryan, 66 mins.
Galway: Darach Fahy; Jack Grealish, Fintan Burke, Darren Morrissey; Padraic Mannion, Gavin Lee, TJ Brennan; Cianan Fahy, Tom Monaghan; John Fleming, Cathal Mannion, Tiernan Killeen; Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Declan McLoughlin. Subs: Conor Cooney for McLoughlin, 48 mins; Ronan Glennon for Monaghan, 49 mins; Rory Burke for Killeen, 53 mins; Daithi Burke for Fleming, 60 mins; Anthony Burns for Brennan, 64 mins.
Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)
