Under-21 Hurling Leinster Final: The face of Leinster hurling may have changed at minor level, but it proved slower to change at under-21 level as Kilkenny won their third successive provincial title yesterday evening - and their 20th in all.
In a game that only came alive in the second half, Dublin twice drew level inside the last 20 minutes before succumbing to the greater spread of strength and skill of the deserving winners.
It did come at a cost, however, as their game plan was badly shaken in the opening passage of play when full forward and senior panellist Richie Power took a heavy shoulder just after the throw-in. Power was slow to rise, and following medical attention was walked off the field and taken to Kilkenny hospital.
Senior manager Brian Cody was watching from the sideline and will eagerly await an update ahead of Kilkenny's quarter-final with Limerick on Sunday week, especially as it comes on the back of the news that Noel Hickey is likely to miss out too.
But reports last night indicated the young Kilkenny forward had broken his collarbone and, if confirmed, will surely miss the rest of Kilkenny's season, at under-21 and senior level.
Dublin weren't outdone for desire, however, and forced Kilkenny to dig deep into their reservoir of talent in order to prevail. Senior panellist Eoin Larkin helped keep their nerves intact with a faultless display of free-taking, and he ended up with 0-10, nine of which came from placed balls.
Yet Larkin wasn't the only difference as Kilkenny had John Tennyson constantly marshalling the defence, with team captain Eoin Reid and Willie O'Dwyer providing some of their finer scores from play. Dublin possibly paid the price for a poor first half and, although they did score first, they never managed to get in front when it mattered most.
It means Kilkenny, the reigning All-Ireland champions in the grade, go on to meet Ulster champions Antrim in the semi-final, and their conveyor belt of talent shows no sign of slowing down just yet. When it came to the business end they simply eased up another gear and outscored Dublin 0-6 to 0-2 in the final 10 minutes.
Dublin had arrived in Dr Cullen Park attempting to end a 33-year wait since their last success in the grade, and spurred on no doubt by the recent breakthrough of their minor counterparts over Kilkenny at the same venue.
They had the necessary leaders in the likes of Ronan Fallon, Michael Carton and Peader Carton, but, ultimately, found Kilkenny's class a little too much to handle.
Although Dublin appeared to settle early on, it wasn't long before Kilkenny started setting the pace. Willie O'Dwyer equalised on 11 minutes, balancing out Alan McCrabbe's early free, and the champions scored another four points without replay to ease 0-5 to 0-1 in front.
With Eamon O'Gorman taking hold of midfield and PJ Delaney the rock at centre back, Kilkenny simply halted their opponents' forward play, and that proved fatal as much as frustrating for each of the Dublin forwards.
So Dublin were practically cemented in their half, with the opposing half back line preventing any penetration further up the field. A long-range free from Ronan Fallon and a point from Aidan Glennon - Dublin's first from play - later reduced the gap to two points, but Kilkenny still had the last say of the half with a point from Austin Murphy to leave it 0-7 to 0-4.
It all livened up substantially in the second half, rousing all 3,000 in attendance - the majority of whom were from Dublin. After five minutes Tim Sweeney coolly converted a Dublin penalty after Peader Carton was pulled down in the area, and a massive score from Michael Carton brought them level on 40 minutes.
Larkin hit back with a free, only for Stuart Mullen to level it again.
But that's as good as it got for Dublin as Larkin inspired the winning drive from the champions.
KILKENNY: D Fogarty; S Maher, J Tennyson, S Cummins; J Dalton, PJ Delaney, D Cody; E O'Gorman, M Rice; A Murphy (0-1), E Larkin (0-10, eight frees, one 65), W O'Dwyer (0-2); E Reid (0-2), R Power, D McCormack (0-1). Subs: C Hoyne (0-1) for Power (3 mins), E Guinan for Hoyne (48 mins).
DUBLIN: A Nolan; G O'Meara, C O'Brien, D O'Reilly; K Nolan, R Fallon (0-2, both frees), C Billings; W Lowry, M Carton (0-1); E Moran (0-1), T Sweeney (1-0, a penalty), J Duffy; A McCrabbe (0-3, two frees), P Carton, A Glennon (0-1). Subs: S Mullen (0-2, one free) for Duffy (44 mins), D Byrne for Nolan (49 mins), G Morris for McCrabbe (57 mins), S O'Sullivan for Moran (60 mins).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).
