Paul Murphy- It was a controlled and efficient performance by improving Kilkenny

Kilkenny had things a lot easier than we expected, but in fairness they were built up for a physical game and were prepared for a Dublin side that would be in their face from early on.

That never materialised for whatever reason and Kilkenny were clearly ready from the second the ball was thrown-in. They were very sharp at the start.

Their passing was very fluid and they really got off the mark very quickly, particularly with Eoin Cody’s goal, so they were definitely prepared for a bigger challenge.

Dublin never got to grips with Kilkenny really and it was ominous for them from very early on.

Dublin seemed to go away from the gameplan they used in Parnell Park for the round-robin game and they really stood off the Kilkenny players.

They stood off the puckout and sat back, but Kilkenny were still winning the 50-50 duels so even when Dublin had players back they seemed to play a zonal game. In contrast Kilkenny still found individual players free and in terms of the match-ups we just had the better players all over the field.

Dublin were at sixes and sevens a small bit with regards what way they wanted to play and the players seemed to be a bit confused.

Even when they had numbers back, the numbers just weren’t in the right positions. There was just plenty of space all over the field for Kilkenny.

It’s very hard to understand why Dublin went away from the way they played, even in the win over Galway, and why the intensity just wasn’t there.

Kilkenny won’t wonder why that happened. They will just be happy to have a Leinster win even if the rest of the country was scratching their head and wondering why this Dublin team turned up and not the one that pushed the Cats so close in Parnell Park.

Kilkenny were very sharp though, in fairness, and you could see the likes of Adrian Mullen pulling the strings from early on and even the tackling of the forwards was very impressive.

That’s always an indicator as to how well a team is clued in. The way Billy Ryan and John Donnelly were tracking back to stop the Dublin attacks was really impressive, while we saw Billy Ryan back on his own 65 at times getting away flicks.

Once the ball was then turned over they were flooding forward; all over the field Kilkenny were on top.

Even Eoin Murphy was getting his puckouts back into play very quickly and the defence was really stepping up in terms of helping out the forwards so you could see Kilkenny were ready for a big challenge. When that didn’t come they just stayed with their own plan and really put the pressure on Dublin.

Eoin Cody’s goal really showed their intent and even when the Dublin puckout went astray in the second half for TJ’s goal, it was Kilkenny that responded the quickest and found the net. Forget the hurling, you could just see the mentality of the lads was miles ahead.

They can only play what is in front of them and it’s not their fault how poor Dublin were but they were also very clinical, which is great to see as a supporter.

Kilkenny weren’t really tested so they are probably still aiming to get an out and out 70 minute performance and that’s definitely something to reach for in the weeks ahead.

Realistically, the challenges that they will face going forward will be very strong but that’s where they want to be at this stage of the year - they don’t want to be peaking too early either.

Kilkenny had their fair share of injuries earlier on in the round robin with Mikey Butler, Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen all out at various stages, so it’s great for them that they do have a fairly clean bill of health at the moment.

There are knocks there like Mikey Carey, who went off with a shoulder injury, but hopefully he’ll be ok within a week or two as it doesn’t look like anything major. Cian Kenny also appeared to roll the ankle or hurt his knee but again we haven’t heard anything too alarming, so it’s great considering there was a few more worries a few weeks ago.

Everyone involved with the Kilkenny team will be happy to have the three or four week break now as it allows the injuries to recover as well as the entire panel to take stock.

There’s lots of time now to get in some intensive training before easing off again before the semi-final and lots of players inside of that dressing room will be used to this as well as the management team.

It’s a perfect timeline as they aren’t away from games for too long so they won’t get sluggish or anything and they’ll maintain their sharpness while looking at the other teams over the next two weeks.

Paddy Deegan was right in acknowledging winning a Leinster five-in a row too. They weren’t fancied to win for at least two of those finals against Galway, but they stuck to their guns and came through.

It’s no mean feat to keep going as Leinster is competitive at the moment and they deserve to enjoy that.
Kilkenny have every right to be satisfied as it stands.