CodyÕs Cats make the Dubs pay for past exploits

Date Published: {J}

IT has already long been recognised that no team in the GAA world does revenge quite like the Kilkenny hurlers and the Cats again lived up to that fearsome reputation when putting Dublin to the sword in the Leinster final at Croke Park on Sunday. This latest title triumph also represented the county’s 13th provincial crown over the past 14 years which is now taking their monopoly to extreme levels.

Still, there had been pre-match doubts about Kilkenny’s capacity to inflict the kind of punishment beatings which have become so routine under Brian Cody’s reign and in their seven triumphant All-Ireland campaigns over the past 11 years. A couple of their heavy hitters like Derek Lyng and Martin Comerford had retired since last year’s final defeat to Tipperary while the likes of Henry Shefflin, Tommy Walsh, JJ Delaney and Noel Hickey have huge mileage on the clock.

Naturally, there was no shortage of speculation that Kilkenny were in decline and having lost three times to Dublin already in 2011, last Sunday’s decider was always going to be a key test of where Cody’s squad currently stood. Once again, however, they issued a sharp reminder that they are still in business, cruising to an 11 points victory and, once again, underlining their legendary capacity to score goals.

Of course, this was a different Kilkenny outfit to the one which had stumbled badly against the Dubs in the league final. The fit again Shefflin, Walsh, Michael Fennelly and Richie Power were all back on duty and this quartet made a huge difference on their own while, of course, there was an edge to their display which was conspicuous by its absence at Croke Park last May. The early goals from Eoin Larkin and Colin Fennelly gave them a foothold which they never like losing.

Despite the inexplicable observations of the TV3 panel on Sunday that Dublin lacked intensity, they again got stuck in, physically rattled Kilkenny but, this time, they were getting it back with interest. The champions were in no mood to roll over and with Brian Hogan a strong influence at centre back and newcomer Paul Murphy also prominent in defence, they gave the Dublin attack little scope to inflict much damage.

Typical Kilkenny too, when Paul Ryan found the net from a close range free in the second-half to reduce the deficit to six points, they had the sliotar stuck in the Dublin net within 60 seconds after Richie Power expertly teed up the impressive Michael Rice. In the end, they strolled to a convincing victory with Michael Fennelly again producing a powerhouse effort in the middle of the park.

Kilkenny may not be quite the force of old, but when you are talking about the greatest team in hurling history, that is hardly an a particularly negative commentary. They are still formidable, still hungry and are back in the zone. Cody had them really fired up for the match and though Dublin were injury hit and on something of a hiding to nothing, this was one match they were never going to win. Team boss Anthony Daly was naturally disappointed afterwards but, on the day, they just weren’t good enough.

The previous evening’s qualifiers saw Limerick build on the good impression when losing narrowly to Waterford in the Munster championship. With their own followers starting to turn out in force again, they had too much firepower and quality for Wexford in the Gaelic Grounds and were hardly flattered by their six points of victory, especially as Rory Jacob netted in soft enough fashion for the vanquished in injury time.

With the youthful Graeme Mulcahy and Declan Hannon picking off 1-13 between them up front, Limerick are clearly on the right road and are surely bound for an All-Ireland quarter-final showdown with Dublin after being paired with Antrim in this weekend’s next round of the qualifiers. They were the better team for long tracts of the opening-half, but an opportunist Eoin Quigley ensured that Donal O’Grady’s outfit only led by 0-11 to 1-6 at the break.

But within 30 seconds of the resumption, Wexford were nearly a beaten docket. Darren Stamp got turned over, allowing James Ryan to set up Mulcahy for a routine finish. Limerick’s possession and short-passing game served them well for much of the match and they are building up a head of steam at just the right time. Unfortunately, it brought the curtain down on another disappointing championship campaign for Wexford and it was no surprise to see their manager, Colm Bonnar, stepping down afterwards.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.