Kilkenny begin Leinster Minor Hurling Championship campaign on a winning note against Galway

Kilkenny began their 2024 Leinster Minor Hurling Championship campaign in impressive fashion in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday, beating Galway on a scoreline of 4-24 to 1-14.

The win ends a 14 year losing drought for Kilkenny minor teams against Galway, with Niall Bergin's side the first to beat their opponents at this grade since 2010.

Kilkenny started brightly and built a commanding 0-7 to 0-2 advantage by the 13th minute, with a blistering five minutes of scoring turning a level game at 0-2 apiece into a five point lead for the home side. A lead they would not recede. 

Galway did respond but struggled to cope with a firm Kilkenny half-back line and a dangerous set of forwards and were hit by two critical sucker punches in the space of two minutes.

An error on the Galway half-back line was pounced upon by Bill McDermott who didn't need a second invitation to net the game's opening goal. The net was bulging again just 60 seconds later as Conor Holohan picked out a clever pass to Jake Mullen who sent the sliotar crashing to the net and made hopes of any Galway recovery seem unlikely at 2-10 to 0-5 with six minutes of the half remaining.

Kilkenny went in at the half-time break on the right side of a comfortable 2-13 to 0-7 scoreboard.

The Tribesmen did show signs of improvement at the start of the second half, notching the first two points courtesy of Eoghan Mulleady and Ciaran Leen but this was as good as it got for the away team as Kilkenny powered on to victory.

As the match headed into the final ten minutes of play, the game was firmly put to bed as a contest. A high ball delivered deep into Galway territory was pulled on first time by Patrick Lacey whose venomous strike left Sean Kelly in the Galway goal with no chance.

The men in maroon did manage to manufacture a consolation goal in the 55th minute through Cillian Roche but it didn't have the desired effect for the westerners, who were outscore 1-3 to 0-1 in the last five minutes.

Three further points followed for the Cats before Ed McDermott finished proceedings in style with a fourth and final goal. Ollie O'Donovan, a second half substitute broke past the Galway defence, finding McDermott on the edge of the square with the James Stephens clubman converting the ball to the net. 

Kilkenny emptied the bench in the final quarter, with all of them contributing positively, and one of those substitutes, Jake Connery slotted over the home team's final point to secure a 4-24 to 1-14 win.

Kilkenny are back in action next Saturday against Wexford at 1pm in Chadwicks Wexford Park.

Full match report in this week's Kilkenny People.

 Teams:

Kilkenny: Padraig Joyce (James Stephens); Bobby Brennan (Erin's Own), Larry Phelan (James Stephens), Oisin Henderson (Dicksboro); Mikey Rohan (Carrickshock), Jack Dollard (Glenmore), David Barcoe (Clara); Anthony Clifford (Dicksboro), Robbie Doherty (Mooncoin); Kevin Buggy (Erin's Own), Eoghan Cahill (Graigue Ballycallan), Jake Mullen (Shamrocks Ballyhale); Patrick Lacey (Dicksboro), Conor Holohan (O'Loughlin Gaels), Bill McDermott (James Stephens)

Subs: Jason Cody (Glenmore) for Buggy, 45 mins; Eoin Brennan (Erin's Own) for Clifford, 45 mins; Louis Ragget (Dicksboro) for Brennan, 53 mins; Jake Connery (Mooncoin) for Cahill, 56 mins; Ollie O'Donovan (John Lockes) for Lacey, 56 mins.

Galway: Sean Kelly, Cathal Moloney, Dara Burke, Conor Murray; Brendan Fox, Jonah Donnellan, Gavin Maher; Eoghan Mulleady, Sean Moran; Ciaran Leen, Brian Callanan, Ronan Murphy; Stephen Keane, Cillian Roche, Ronan Cahalan.

Subs: Jamie Ryan for Cahalan, HT; Eamonn McGlynn for Murphy, 39 mins; Robert Burke for Brendan Fox, 44 mins; Jack Shaughnessy for Keane, 54 mins; Eoin Hannon for Callanan, 56 mins.