Kilkenny power to Plate glory at Kennedy Cup

The Kilkenny & District League signed off on their Kennedy Cup adventure in winning style, beating Kerry to take the Plate title for 2023.

The Cats, under the guidance of head coach Davy Mulcahy, got the better of Kerry in a tense and tight final at the University of Limerick on Friday afternoon.

Evergreen's Andrejs Kirilovs was the man of the moment for the Kittens, scoring the only goal of the game with a 44th minute penalty to seal the spoils.

The win marked the end of an impressive campaign for Kilkenny, who topped Group One with seven points from three games. They opened with a 3-0 win over WWEC on Monday thanks to goals from Andrejs Kirilovs, Aaron McCormack and Harry Egan/ They drew 2-2 with Limerick Desmond - Sean and Joey Dempsey the scorers - before seeing off neighbours Carlow 3-0 on Tuesday. Padraic Meaney (2) and Jack Mulcahy were the scorers.

Drawn against Galway in the quarter-finals of the Kennedy Cup they endured something of a rollercoaster day. Leading 3-1 inside the second half through goals from Mulcahy (2) and Kirilovs they were pegged back when Galway scored two goals in injury-time, before losing out in a sudden death penalty shoot-out.

Moving into the Plate competition Kilkenny bounced back in fine style, handing Cork a 3-1 beating with Sean Dempsey (2) and Matias Quaglia getting the goals.

That set the team up for a pulsating final with Kerry - and they didn't disappoint!

Kilkenny & District League squad

1 Danny O'Neill (Thomastown United)
2 Scott O'Shea (Evergreen)
3 Liam O'Grady (Stoneyford United)
4 Sean Kavanagh (Evergreen)
5 Conor Dempsey (Lions)
6 Joey Dempsey (Lions)
7 Andrejs Kirilovs (Evergreen)
8 Paddy Grace (Callan United)
9 Padraic Meaney (Freebooters)
10 Jack Mulcahy (Evergreen)
11 Harry Egan (Evergreen)
12 Sean Dempsey (Lions)
13 Hugh Power (Evergreen)
14 Aaron McCormack (Stoneyford United)
15 Bill Barron (Highview Athletic)
16 Paddy Purcell (Freebooters)
17 Mikey O'Brien (Thomastown United)
18 Lorcan Mahony (Stoneyford United)
19 Matias Quaglia (Evergreen)
20 Conor Hickey (Clover United)