Gaelic Games

Carlow work past underdog tag to hold Kilkenny to a draw

Kilkenny led by six points close to the half-hour mark but were denied victory by a last-minute free

TJ Reid of Kilkenny in action against Carlow. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho
TJ Reid of Kilkenny in action against Carlow. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho
Kieran Murphy
Sat May 11 2024 - 19:33
Leinster SHC: Carlow 1-20 Kilkenny 1-20

Carlow caused the shock of the senior hurling championship at Netwatch Cullen Park when they held Kilkenny to a draw in an entertaining encounter on Saturday.

The pre-match favourites got off to a great start when Martin Keoghan opened the scoring with a point and Owen Wall followed up with a goal. It was a lesson for the home side who had coughed up easy ball in midfield and paid the price.

Chris Nolan’s seventh minute point for the home side got them off the mark and while they trailed by six points on 28 minutes, they were still causing problems for Kilkenny, who had Killian Doyle sent off for an off the ball foul.

Shortly before that, Billy Ryan had a goal-chance but the Carlow defence crowded out the ball carrier and the opportunity was lost. Cian Kenny compensated for the Cats with two points from play.

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Three points each from Chris Nolan and Marty Kavanagh kept Carlow in touch and at the interval Kilkenny led 1-11 to 0-9. With the wind in the second half in their backs, the fourteen men were still odds on favourites to win.

On the resumption, a Fiachra Fitzpatrick point acted as a lift for Carlow and while they struggled at times with Kilkenny’s short passing and possession game, they were not going away.

Possibly if Tom Phelan had found the net with seventeen minutes to go, the score would have settled Kilkenny but Brian Tracey, the Carlow ‘keeper, made a great point-block.

Carlow themselves almost had a three-pointer but Kavanagh was crowded out by an alert defence. The leading Carlow scorer had a hand in his side’s goal but when his shot was blocked, Conor Kehoe was on hand to force the sliotar over the line.

From there, Carlow won the battle of wills. Previous Carlow teams would have been happy to have settled for an honourable defeat but there is a different attitude with this group.

TJ Reid scored the final two points for Kilkenny to put them two clear. The home side refused to contemplate defeat. James Doyle was on hand to make it a one-point game for Carlow and on 75 minutes, a moment of petulance from a Kilkenny player saw a free being awarded. On the 45-metre mark Kavanagh gave Carlow an historic draw with his free just curling inside the right hand upright.

CARLOW: B Tracey; P Doyle, D Wall, N Bolger; T Lawlor, K McDonald (0-1, one free), F Fitzpatrick (0-2); S Joyce, R Coady; J Nolan (0-1), C Nolan (0-4), M Kavanagh (0-9, one 65, eight frees); J McCullagh, J M Nolan, S Treacy.

Subs: C Kehoe (1-0) for Treacy (h/t), P Boland (0-1) for JM Nolan (h/t), C Whelan for Joyce (h/t), James Doyle (0-1) for Coady (50 mins), D Murphy (0-1) for J Nolan (62).

KILKENNY: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor (0-1), K Doyle; D Blanchfield, D Corcoran, S Murphy (0-1); C Kenny (0-3), J Molloy; M Keoghan (0-3), J Donnelly, T Phelan (0-2); B Ryan (0-1), TJ Reid (0-6, four frees), O Wall (1-3).

Subs: T Walsh for Ryan (h/t), C Fogarty for Molloy (42 mins), B Drennan for Wall (58).

Referee: C Cooney (Dublin).