Kilkenny complete Leinster Minor round-robin series with unblemished record

Kilkenny comfortably saw off the challenge from Dublin in Round 3 of the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship Round-Robin Series in O’Toole Park, Crumlin on Saturday afternoon to ease into the Leinster Semi-Final which will be played on Saturday, May 17.

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Kilkenny may yet face the young Dubs once again in that Semi-Final with the Metropolitans now scheduled to face Westmeath in the Quarter-Final next weekend.

Two first half goals would prove crucial to Kilkenny’s victory. Except for the opening twenty minutes of the game the sides were evenly matched with Kilkenny ahead by the narrowest of margins entering the closing ten minutes of the opening half.

Dublin’s Rory Flannery, landed the first of his twelve point return straight from the throw-in to give the home side a fine start, but the early lead did not last long. Following a neat bit of inter-play from the Kilkenny defence, midfielder Diarmuid Behan broke through the Dublin rear-guard but was upended as he bore down on goal. Jake Mullan impressively shot the resultant penalty to the Dublin net.

Dublin’s Rory Flannery, landed the first of his twelve point return straight from the throw-in to give the home side a fine start, but the early lead did not last long. Following a neat bit of inter-play from the Kilkenny defence, midfielder Diarmuid Behan broke through the Dublin rear-guard but was upended as he bore down on goal. Jake Mullan impressively shot the resultant penalty to the Dublin net.

A brace of points from Rory Flannery kept Dublin on Kilkenny’s coattails, with the winners landing a superb point on eight minutes after another break from defence by Josh Dowling.

On a pristine if somewhat short pitch, both sides worked hard for scores over the next ten minutes. Christian Kane (Dublin) and Diarmuid Behan (Kilkenny) exchanged points, while the free-taking of Jake Mullan, all through the game, was keeping the scoreboard ticking over for the young Cats.

Three Dublin points in a six minutes spell from Sean Culleton, Finn O’Donnell and Rory Flannery to which Eoin Brennan and Jake Mullan (’65) replied for Kilkenny left the winners ahead by a point on twenty minutes.

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Kilkenny were steadily edging control of the game with the interval approaching. The superb Ollie O’Donovan almost scored a second Kilkenny goal on twenty-five minutes with Dublin goalie Hugh Leahy alert to the John Lockes player’s effort. But Donovan was not to be denied a goal one minute later when he was at the end of yet another dazzling run from the Kilkenny defence, this time from Oisin Henderson.

The young Dicksboro player passed the ball to on-rushing midfielder Diarmuid Behan who deftly flicked it into the path of Ollie O’Donovan who finished the sliothar to the Dublin net.

That goal pushed the margin out to six points and it remained that way at the interval with the teams sharing six points in the closing stages of the first half.

Kilkenny enjoyed wind advantage in the second half and while it was not significant it was beneficial nonetheless. The home side again started well with a Daniel O’Connor point but Kilkenny’s ability to respond quickly to every Dublin score was testimony to the character in the team.

Ollie O’Donovan and outstanding midfielder Brian Hickey added further points for Kilkenny to extend their lead early in the new half.

Constant Kilkenny pressure saw Dublin concede several frees which were converted by Jake Mullan. Eoin Brennan, Ollie O’Donovan and Diarmuid Behan also landed points to edge the winners further ahead with each passing minute.

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Despite the margin between the sides on the scoreboard Dublin continued to deliver a spirited performance with their defence ensuring that Kilkenny did not add to the two goals they scored in the opening half. The winners were happy to settle for points, but the goal threat from the young Cats was always evident.

With Kilkenny strongly in control of the game entering the final quarter, both sides made good use of their respective panels. Ben Nevin, Jake Mullan (frees), Ollie O’Donovan and sub Cian Byrne with a brace of points ensured that Kilkenny confidently marched into the Semi-Final in two weeks.

Apart from the closeness of the exchanges in the opening twenty minutes, Kilkenny dominated the game despite the brave efforts of the home side. The winner’s defence looked confident and assured with some great scores delivered after impressive 60 metre runs by defenders. Perhaps on another day they won’t be afforded that amount of space against stronger opponents.

The Kilkenny midfield pairing of Diarmuid Behan and Brian Hickey gave the winners a strong edge in this sector of the field, while in attack Ollie O’Donovan was the stand-out forward, with Jake Mullen and Kevin Buggy also to the fore.

Despite Kilkenny’s comfortable win in O’Toole Park last Saturday, the two teams may well have to do it all again in two weeks in the Leinster Semi-Final.

Kilkenny: Jake Mullan (1-7, 1-0 Penalty; 0-6 Frees & 0-1 ’65); Ollie O’Donovan (1-3); Kevin Buggy (0-3); Diarmuid Behan, Eoin Brennan, Brian Hickey & Cian Byrne (0-2, each); Josh Dowling, Adam Maher, Kealon Barcoe & Ben Nevin (0-1, each).

Dublin: Rory Flannery (0-12, 0-10 Frees); Daniel O’Connor (0-2): Christian Kane, Sean Culleton, Finn O’Donnell &
Conaill O’Sullivan (0-1, each).

Referee – Adam Kinahan (Offaly).