oneills.com Leinster U20 Hurling Championship

Tier 1, Round 2

Kilkenny 5-20 Galway 3-20

Dublin 1-20 Wexford 0-15

Tier 2, Group 1, Round 3

Westmeath 5-17 Meath 0-10

Offaly 2-17 Antrim 0-8

Tier 2, Group 2, Round 3

Laois 2-16 Kerry 1-15

Kildare 1-13 Carlow 1-7

By Paul Keane

Senior trio Billy Drennan, Timmy Clifford and Gearoid Dunne made a dramatic return for the Kilkenny U-20s, powering the oneills.com All-Ireland title holders to a big provincial win over Galway.

Drennan struck 2-12 for the Cats in Tullamore while fellow goalscorers Clifford and Dunne weighed in with 2-2 between them in the six-point victory.

All three players were absent last weekend as Mark Dowling's side began the defence of their Leinster title with a three-point loss to Wexford.

They featured instead for the Kilkenny seniors the following day against Limerick in the Allianz National League Division 1 decider at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

With Dublin defeating Wexford elsewhere this afternoon, moving them top of the Tier 1 group with four points from four, it tees things up nicely for next weekend's final group game between Kilkenny and Dublin at Nowlan Park.

A draw or better will guarantee Dublin's last four place as group winners. Kilkenny, level on two points with Wexford, will almost certainly progress to the last four with a win. Galway are rock bottom after back to back losses though the third and fourth placed teams will still advance to the quarter-finals.

Kilkenny may have been boosted by the return of those senior stars but they still slipped seven points behind Galway initially in Tullamore.

Darren Shaughnessy's 17th minute goal, allied to earlier points from Colm Molloy, free-taker Liam Collins and Rory Burke, left Galway 1-8 to 1-1 clear.

Kilkenny were clinging on but hauled themselves back into contention with a second Drennan goal in the 22nd minute and trailed by 2-6 to 1-12 at the break.

Kilkenny then took control of the encounter with nine points in the first nine minutes of the second-half, Drennan, St Kieran's College star Harry Shine, Clifford and Joe Fitzpatrick all on the mark.

The final quarter was a thrill-a-minute ride with further Kilkenny goals from Clifford, Cillian Hackett and Dunne.

The Cats led by 10 points briefly though a late Liam Collins goal for Galway, bringing his tally to 1-10 for the afternoon, glossed the scoreline.

Dublin enjoyed a more straightforward win in the capital, leading from Diarmaid O Dulaing's opening point in the second minute until full-time, free-taker O Dulaing eventually finishing with 0-9.

Eight wides in the first-half meant that Dublin only led by 0-10 to 0-7 at the break but they were more efficient from there on.

Back to back points from Brendan Kenny helped them to open up a 0-17 to 0-9 lead by the three-quarter mark. Jamie Conroy's 49th minute goal set the seal on victory for Dublin.

Offaly and Westmeath are through to the Leinster preliminary quarter-finals. Offaly beat Antrim to finish top of Tier 2, Group 1 ahead of Westmeath who put 5-17 on the board against neighbours Meath.

Laois and Kildare are through to the same stage from Tier 1, Group 2. Table toppers Laois beat Kerry to make it three wins from three while Kildare overcame Carlow to leapfrog the Kingdom into second position in the table.