10 minutes:After a cagey opening, Kilkenny draw first blood. The first – but by no means the last – Kilkenny free of the afternoon tails to the left and wide but Richie Hogan jumps from behind the endline to catch the sliotar. Whether or not he keeps it from crossing the line is debateable but the umpire is standing no more than two feet away and gives him the benefit of the doubt. Hogan hand-passes across the face of goal and Eddie Brennan pulls on the loose ball. Kilkenny go 1-1 to 0-2 ahead.
17 minutes:On other days, Brennan's goal would have caused Dublin to shrink. Not here. Paul Ryan collects on the 45, feints to go inside and then jack-knifes out to the left to take the more difficult shot from a wide angle. He splits the posts. A minute later, Daire Plunkett scores from just about the same spot on the other side of the pitch. Sandwiched in between is a TJ Reid free for Kilkenny that falls wide. Dublin are never behind for the rest of the day.
24 minutes:Conal Keaney knifes a point that puts Dublin 0-10 to 1-1 up. Kilkenny soon have even bigger problems. After referee Michael Wadding awards a free in midfield, Eoin Larkin lashes out at Dublin's Conor McCormack (left). After consulting with his linesman, Wadding has no other option only to give Larkin a red card. Kilkenny miss yet another free almost instantly. They eventually go 21 minutes without scoring.
57 minutes:Kilkenny are living off frees now. Amazingly, theyve scored just six times in 57 minutes. Dublin are full of aggression and speed. Liam Rushe nails Michael Fennelly with a shoulder to rob him of possession and sends it forward to Keaney. The wing forward – who never won a league with the Dublin footballers, cuts in from the right and points. Dublin are 0-15 to 1-5 ahead with just under 20 minutes to go (there would be six minutes of stoppage time due to Joey Boland being stretchered off). Any Kilkenny comeback will have to start soon.
69 minutes:Carnival time. Dublin start swinging over points from all angles. Keaney is almost bottled up underneath the Hogan Stand but is able to pick out John McCaffrey with a peach of a crossfield pass. The Dublin captain makes it 0-17 to 1-7 and Anthony Daly's side freewheel home.
MALACHY CLERKIN
