Leinster SHC- Impressive Kilkenny claim dominant opening win over Galway

Kilkenny kicked off the Leinster Championship with a resounding victory over a very disappointing Galway team in UPMC Nowlan Park.

An opening half Adrian Mullen goal as well as second half efforts from Eoin Cody and Mossy Keoghan did the job for Derek Lyng's team as the hosts claimed a first ever round-robin victory over their opponents.

Galway looked to be very much in contention throughout the opening quarter of the game but the Cats got a stranglehold on things at the back end of the opening half and it was all one way traffic from that point on.

There appeared to be little between the sides early on with Adrian Mullen's rather fortunate goal arriving after conditions got the better of Galway stopper Darach Fahy as he tried to scoop up the ball.

That was to be as good as it got for the Shamrocks man however as his afternoon was soon brought to an end by injury as was the case with Shane Murphy.

The home side showed huge character from that point on however with the midfield pairing of Jordan Molloy and Cian Kenny having huge games as did Mossy Keoghan and Billy Ryan in attack.

By the interval the Cats had opened up a 1-14 to 0-11 advantage on the scoreboard and with Eoin Cody and Mikey Carey extending that lead within four minutes of the resumption, there seemed to be only one winner.

Cathal Mannion was Galway's star man with 10 points in total but otherwise the Cats defence was very much on top and with 11 scorers in total including the starting two midfielders and six forwards, the contest rather petered out before the end.

Kilkenny championship newcomer Fionan Mackessy was another to stand out with a couple of fine scores from distance and Eoin Cody's well taken goal where he outran the Galway defence in the 58th minute put a bit of daylight on the scoreboard entering the final few minutes of action.

Galway did get four points on the bounce late on via Mannion, Gavin Lee and two from sub Conor Cooney gave the visitors some respectability but Kilkenny still had the last say with Luke Hogan pointing before Mossy Keoghan added a third goal in stoppage time.

The Cats now move onto next Sunday where they travel to Belfast to face Antrim in Corrigan Park.

Teams and Scorers

Kilkenny: Eoin Cody (1-5, 2fs), Martin Keoghan (1-2), Fionan Mackessy (0-4, 1f and 1 '65), Adrian Mullen (1-0), Jordan Molloy (0-3), Billy Ryan, Cian Kenny, Mikey Carey, Stephen Donnelly (0-2 each), John Donnelly, Luke Hogan (0-1 each)

Galway: Cathal Mannion (0-10, 6fs), Cianan Fahy, John Fleming, Conor Cooney (0-2 each), Conor Whelan, Declan McLoughlin, Tiernan Killeen, TJ Brennan, Gavin Lee (0-1 each)

Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Shane Murphy; Mikey Carey, Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; Adrian Mullen, John Donnelly, Fionan Mackessy; Billy Ryan, Martin Keoghan, Eoin Cody.

Subs: Stephen Donnelly for Mullen, 17 mins; David Blanchfield for S.Murphy, 22 mins; Tommy Walsh for Blanchfield, 61 mins; Harry Shine for J.Donnelly, 63 mins; Luke Hogan for Ryan, 66 mins.

Galway: Darach Fahy; Jack Grealish, Fintan Burke, Darren Morrissey; Padraic Mannion, Gavin Lee, TJ Brennan; Cianan Fahy, Tom Monaghan; John Fleming, Cathal Mannion, Tiernan Killeen; Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Declan McLoughlin.

Subs: Conor Cooney for McLoughlin, 48 mins; Ronan Glennon for Monaghan, 49 mins; Rory Burke for Killeen, 53 mins; Daithi Burke for Fleming, 60 mins; Anthony Burns for Brennan, 64 mins.

Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)

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