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Great effort as Inter team gets All-Ireland hat-trick bid off to winning start
IT ENDED up as a handicap event of sorts as far as Kilkenny were concerned, but the stripey men made light of it and showed great skill and commitment when roaring to victory over defending champions, Cork in a quality All-Ireland intermediate hurling final.
The winners had named senior panelists, Paddy Hogan and captain, Eoin Guinan in their team, but late in the week they were told they were unavailable because of the glut of injuries suffered by the top squad.
Guinan's St Lachtain's (Freshford) club colleague, Bill Beckett took over the skipper's arm band and he led the Cats with fair pride as they registered their second win in three years in the championship.
"To lead a Kilkenny team to a win in an All-Ireland final is wonderful, a memory for life," a beaming Beckett suggested after the match on Saturday. "Hopefully this will be a good omen for the senior and minor teams and they can complete the All-Ireland hat-trick for the county."
During a sprint like finish, Beckett blasted over two points, one from a free and the other at the end of a daring run through the middle of the losers defence, to leave Cork losers by a little more than should have been the case.
Cleere the
key man
Kilkenny's key man turned out to be the experienced Peter Cleere. Operating at full-forward, the Blacks and Whites man used his talent well to bring others into the play throughout, but it was his two goal blast that hurt Cork the most.
The first goal came after two minutes and gave the Cats an ideal start when playing into the wind. His second, in the 61st minute, broke Cork hearts just after they had bagged a smashing goal that brought them right back into the contest after trailed by five points at one stage (1-15 to 1-13).
As the action slipped into the first minute of additional time Richie Dollard blasted a hasty ball forward from midfield. The sliotar dropped from the sky about 25 metres in front of the Cork goal where Cleere contested with the opposing full-back.
The ball took a deflection off the pair, and squirted forward towards the 20-metre line. Cleere gave chase. The Cork goalie remained static. The Blacks and Whites man whipped the ball from the ground into his hand and raced, unchallenged, towards the target. He hung the ball up in the net.
Game over! Kilkenny were the champions. Beckett weighed-in with his brace of points within a minute to decorate the scoreline.
"The players were wonderful," insisted Kilkenny manager, Pat Hoban. "It wasn't an easy game to win, but no matter what Cork threw at the players they hung in and never dropped their heads. This was a great win for an honest and committed bunch of players."
Indeed it was! The winners did well to lead by 1-6 to 0-8 at half-time after playing against the fair breeze. During the opening 10 minutes of the new half they missed two good chances from frees at a time when the pressure was at its highest and the scores were level.
Selectors make telling moves
Around this time the selectors made a number of telling switches. The experienced Pat Hartley was shifted to center-back where he became a dominant force. With Beckett and Michael Grace working hard around midfield with the powerful, long striking Niall Walsh, big things began to happen for the team.
Niall Doherty, he was wonderful, Kieran Mooney, Paul Murphy and Richie Dollard drove things on hard and Alan Healy showed nerves of steel when asked to take over the free taking duties during the closing quarter. He got three chances. He took them all.
So lively were reshaped Kilkenny that the enthusiasm was infectious, and subs Brian Lennon and Noel Doherty caught the mood instantly when put on and they made good scoring contributions before the finish.
"It was a real team effort," insisted Mr Hoban. "The players worked hard for each other, and when Cork got near close to the finish they dug deeper again to come up with a winning effort."
Cleere's early goal was followed by points from Nicky Cleere (free) and Richie Dollard – both moves involved Alan Healy who replaced Guinan – to leave Kilkenny leaders by 1-2 to 0-1 after five minutes. They stayed in front until the 11th minute when a very good score from Bill Cooper earned Cork parity at 1-3 to 0-6.
The losers jumped in front a minute later when Danny O'Callaghan clipped over a point from a free from all of 90 metres. They nearly added a goal seconds later, but Kilkenny 'keeper, Liam Tierney brought off a stunning diving save from a blast from no more than eight metres by Mark Harrington.
Edged the returns
Richie Dollard, who was really putting himself about to great effect, posted an equaliser before late minors from Alan Healy and Beckett - following a lovely build-up involving Cleere and Dollard - against one reply from Eoin Conway left Kilkenny leaders by 1-6 to 0-8 at half-way.
Cork edged the scoring returns during the third quarter to get back level again without in any way dominating the play (1-8 to 0-11). By this stage Kilkenny had reorganised their forces. Slowly but surely they dug out an edge.
A wonderful points from 50metres by Niall Walsh in the 47th minute started the charge towards the winning line (1-9 to 0-11). Cork's Brian Corry had an awful miss at the other end before Michael Grace rose the white from midfield and close to the right hand sideline. The assist was by John Cotterell.
Healy converted a very difficult free from near the sideline and 50 metres distances as the Cats kept up the high octane drive. Noel Doherty, alan Healy (free) and Bill Beckett all hit the target by the 55th minute to leave the new champions 1-14 to 0-12 ahead.
After an exchange of points between Bill Cooper and Healy, Cork roared back into the match. From a near impossible position 25 metres to the right of the Kilkenny goal, Colm Casey left fly with a mighty drive. The ball sailed into the net.
Game on again . . . . 1-15 to 1-13.
Peter Cleere had one more trick left in his sack. His second goal took bravery to create and daring to execute. It was a nice way to sign off in the game. The way of champions!
Cork's best were Kevin Hartnett, Danny O'Callaghan, Tadhg Healy, Brendan Coleman and Mark Ellis.
Kilkenny – Liam Tierney; Mark Phelan, Paul Murphy, Kieran Mooney; John Cotterell, Ray Cody, Niall Doherty; Pat Hartley, Niall Walsh; Bill Beckett (capt), Richie Dollard, Nicky Cleere; Michael Grace, Peter Cleere, Alan Healy. Subs - Brian Lennon for Cody 37th min; Noel Doherty for Cleere 47th min.
Cork – D. McCarthy, M. Walsh, C. Fogarty, B. Coleman, T. Healy, K. Hartnett, M. Ellis, D. O'Callaghan, B. Fitzgerald, B. Corry, B. Cooper, C. Casey, M. Harrington (capt), E. Conway, M. O'Sullivan. Subs - S. Corr for Fitzgerald 48th min; B. Lawton for Conway 53rd min; J. Halbert for M. O'Sullivan 55th min.
Referee – A. Kelly (Galway).
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Weather for Kilkenny
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
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