National Hurling League Division 1: Clare 0-21 Kilkenny 0-23
For about 15 minutes at the end of the second half everyone forgot where they were for a while, and that the outcome didn’t matter beyond tea-time, or tomorrow at the latest. Scores were exchanged like swinging punches and the ball flew up and down the field like a mad yoke. The crowd was half-perished and half-drenched, but they got stuck in too and all of a sudden there was energy and noise and bite.
Kilkenny hit the front for the first time after 57 minutes, and from there to the end the teams were level four times. Both teams had sourced urgency from their bench with a battalion of fringe players and up-and-comers and everyone was flying into tackles.
The pitch held up remarkably well in the circumstances but in the second half players’ wheels started to spin on the surface and as the intensity climbed so did the number of handling errors and turnovers. All of it added to the fun.
The match was decided by points from Eoin Cody and Luke Hogan in the dregs of stoppage time and given that Kilkenny had fielded about two-thirds of their championship team it would have been harder for them to brush off a loss. Clare were the only team to have beaten Kilkenny last year, a feat they managed three times and that must have been on Kilkenny’s mind.
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“It was a battling performance,” said Derek Lyng. “I think that was the most pleasing part. Obviously, they got a very good start, but we kept at it. We made plenty of mistakes but that’s all right at this time of year. I was looking at a very honest performance and we just did enough at the end to get the win.
Clare fielded just five starters from the All-Ireland final, only one of whom, David Reidy, was in their forward line; in the first half he was outstanding. Reidy scored three points inside the opening four minutes, and landed seven points from seven shots by half-time, all but one from dead balls.
Clare dominated the opening quarter with the aid of a wind that flagged as the game wore on. They rattled off four points before Kilkenny scored and were 0-9 to 0-2 ahead after 16 minutes. David Conroy, who has been a squad player, on and off, for many years, scored two terrific points early on and was fouled for a couple of frees that Reidy converted.
Young Seán Rynne, who was a star of Clare’s under-20 team last year, scored a sweet point too and Ryan Taylor was lively at centre field, in his first competitive start since the 2023 All-Ireland semi-final.
Kilkenny struggled to make the ball stick at the other end of the field. Darragh Lohan made some snappy interventions against Cody and Clare successfully curbed his influence for the guts of an hour. Only the outstanding Mossy Keoghan posed a consistent threat and he finished the game with five points from play.
When the direction of travel changed in the second quarter the impetus came from Kilkenny’s half-back line. Mikey Carey scored three superb points down the right flank and Fionán Mackessy found his feet on the other wing.
The former Kerry player was making his competitive debut for Kilkenny, having joined O’Loughlin Gaels last season. He made three or four powerful surges when Kilkenny were trying to force their way into the game and by the time he took a knock and left the field late in the second half he had made a good first impression.
By half-time Kilkenny had reduced Clare’s lead to just two points, 0-12 to 0-10, and even with the wind easing off it didn’t feel like the All-Ireland champions had taken out enough insurance.
Peter McDonald’s second long-range point brought the teams level 10 minutes into the second half and after that the temperature of the exchanges started to rise. Young Keith Smyth and Paddy Donnellan made a significant impact off the bench for Clare and contributed two points each, but the Kilkenny bench was productive too. Luke Hogan, Luke Connellan and Gearoid Dunne all scored and looked like players we will see again.
Keoghan and Cody, though, led Kilkenny’s charge in the closing minutes, and ultimately, they made the difference.
“We had an experimental line-up there and it just caught us a little bit at the end,” said Brian Lohan. “We have 15 or 16 injuries and then nine players playing Fitzgibbon as well. The resources are stretched but that’s fine. We’ve a big panel and that’s the reason for it. Tough conditions, manly conditions and a tough game for this time of the year that both teams will take a lot from.”
Like in so many league games, winning and losing had a lot in common.
Clare: E Quilligan, I McNamara, C Leen, D Lohan, C Galvin (0-1), D McInerney, J O’Neill, R Taylor, C Malone, P Crotty, D Conroy (0-3), S Rynne (0-2), S Meehan (0-2), A Shanagher (0-1), D Reidy (0-8, 0-7 frees). Subs: Ross Hayes for McInerney 35+2; P Donnellan (0-2) for Taylor 44 mins; K Smyth (0-2) for Shanagher 50 mins; Rory Hayes for Crotty 55 mins.
Kilkenny: A Tallis, M Butler, H Lawlor, S Murphy, M Carey (0-3), D Blanchfield, F Mackessy, P McDonald (0-2), J Molloy, M Keoghan (0-5), C Kenny (0-1), P Deegan, B Drennan (0-7, 0-6 frees, 0-1 65), E Cody (0-2), B Ryan. Subs: G Dunne (0-1) for Molloy 44 mins; L Hogan (0-1) for Kenny 50 mins; L Connellan (0-1) for Ryan 59 mins; J Conneally for Leen 61 mins; Z Hammond for Mackessy 65 mins.
Referee: S Hynes (Galway).
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