Kilkenny face wounded Rebels under Saturday night lights

After the weather refused to play ball last weekend, Kilkenny will make their belated return to league action when they take on Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday evening.

While the Cats laid idle, their opponents on Saturday were involved in a thrilling, albeit losing, contest with Tipperary in Thurles so points will be very much at a premium by the banks of the Lee this time around.

It’s the second year in a row that the teams have met in the league on a Saturday night with the Cats taking the victory in 2024, and Derek Lyng’s men will be eager to do likewise this time around.

The Cats also defeated the Rebels in the league semi-final the year before so when it comes to early season action, the Noresiders definitley have a good record against one of their arch rivals.

As it stands, both teams have played three games apiece with Kilkenny one point ahead after victories over Clare and Galway, with Cork’s positive results being a big win over Wexford and a last gasp draw with Limerick which drew a huge crowd to the venue by the Marina.

Something similar is expected here with the game placed in the middle of a three game programme that will also see the Cork Ladies and Men’s Footballers in action against Roscommon and while under normal circumstances, the hurling would be the main event, TV constraints has resulted in the earlier start of 5pm with TG4 providing live coverage.

The pressure is probably more on the Rebels coming into this one, but both teams know that one more win could be enough to maintain their league status and that would be crucial as they begin to think about the championship over the next few weeks.

Kilkenny also have two home games to finish with as a result of the Limerick cancellation so they’ll have their fate in their own hands regardless of how Saturday’s game goes.

Prior to the game with the Treaty County, Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng had named Eoin Murphy and Tommy Walsh in his proposed starting lineup and presuming training goes to plan this week, you’d imagine the experienced duo will get the opportunity to have their first runout of the league campaign and against very good opposition at that.

The other 13 named starters all played in the game with Wexford and a number of those players will be out to make a mark again including recent UL Fitzgibbon Cup winner Killian Doyle.

Last week’s named squad still had no place for the likes of John Donnelly, TJ Reid, Richie Reid or Adrian Mullen, but the extension of the regulation part of the league by the week should give the chance for that quartet to get minutes into the legs.

For Kilkenny to emerge victorious, they will have to bring their A-game at the back, especially as Cork’s explosive running game has the ability to cause them huge problems and they will need a bigger attacking threat outside of Mossy Keoghan who has been brilliant in the opening three games with 2-12 from play but a better spread of scores would certainly benefit the Noresiders.

Even in defeat to Tipperary, the Rebels still had notable performers in the likes of Darragh Fitzgibbon, Brian Hayes and Shane Barrett amongst others, and it was only in the final minutes that the Premier County pulled clear so a cracking contest looks set as Kilkenny begin another block of three games.

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