Kilkenny minor hurlers off the mark with big win over Westmeath

Kilkenny began their defence of the Walter Hanrahan Cup with an impressive 4-18 to 0-14 victory over Westmeath in Clonkill, as the fourteen-man Cats powered their way to victory while launching their bid for three consecutive provincial titles in Phase 2 Round 1 of the Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Kilkenny arrived in the Midlands as strong favourites after capturing back-to-back Leinster minor titles, but Gordon Byrne’s side certainly did not have things all their own way early on and were forced to dig deep after a disastrous opening spell.

It was the Cats’ first competitive outing of the season, and that early rust was evident against a sharp Westmeath outfit who
had already recorded impressive wins over Kerry and Offaly to reach this stage of the competition.

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That sharpness showed immediately as the Lake County surged into a 0-6 to 0-1 lead by the tenth minute, with Kilkenny’s task made even more difficult when Matthew Corr was shown a straight red card after just five minutes following a reckless high challenge on MJ Long that left the visitors facing a serious early setback.

Dicksboro’s Joe Dowling produced a superb individual performance and finished the afternoon with an outstanding personal tally of 2-9, while Ruairi Power, son of Kilkenny great Richie, contributed 1-5 from play as the Cats eventually asserted their authority over the hosts.

Westmeath made the brighter start despite playing into a swirling breeze, with early scores from Aidan Doyle, Conor Raleigh and MJ Long putting daylight between the sides before Corr’s dismissal in the fifth minute.

Conor Williams converted the resulting free before Dowling finally opened Kilkenny’s account in the eighth minute to settle the visitors somewhat.

Further scores from Raleigh and Eoin Behan stretched the Westmeath advantage to 0-6 to 0-1 by the tenth minute, but to their credit Gordon Byrne’s charges responded well.

Power, Dowling, Brion Walsh and Padraic Meany struck four unanswered points to reduce the deficit to the minimum before Raleigh and Williams replied for the home side.

Dowling and Power again added further scores in response to efforts from Conor Cleary and MJ Long to leave the scoreboard reading 0-10 to 0-8 in Westmeath’s favour as the contest moved into first-half stoppage time.

However, a devastating ninety-second spell right before the interval completely transformed the shape of the contest. Williams conceded a black-card penalty which Dowling confidently buried to the net, and within seconds Brion Walsh intercepted the subsequent Westmeath puckout before releasing Power, who finished emphatically from close range to leave Kilkenny suddenly leading 2-8 to 0-10 at the break.

Matters deteriorated further for the hosts immediately after the restart when Jack Bolger’s dangerous high delivery caused panic inside the Westmeath defence and eventually ricocheted all the way into the net to give Kilkenny their third goal in a dramatic three-minute scoring burst either side of half-time that swung momentum decisively in their favour.

Raleigh and Williams attempted to respond with placed balls for the home side, while Dowling answered with a free of his own to maintain Kilkenny’s growing advantage and keep the gap at six points as the contest entered its final quarter.

However, with fifteen minutes remaining the result was effectively put beyond doubt when Dowling’s effort dropped and slipped from the grasp of goalkeeper Ryan McNamee before crossing the line to give Kilkenny a commanding 4-9 to 0-12 advantage and leave Westmeath facing an impossible task in the closing stages.

From that point onwards, Kilkenny dominated and went on to register ten of the next eleven scores, with Dowling and Power contributing a combined 0-7 during that spell as the Leinster champions pulled further clear.

Substitute Ross Phelan and Robert Lacey also added their names to the scoresheet, while Conor Williams provided Westmeath’s only response during that extended period of Kilkenny control.

Aidan Doyle, who had opened the scoring in the opening moments of the contest, registered its final point in the third minute of additional time as Kilkenny closed out a convincing victory to get their championship campaign up and running in confident fashion.

Next up for the Cats is the visit of Galway next week, with Wexford to follow soon after, as Kilkenny look well placed to secure a semi-final berth.

For Westmeath, meanwhile, there will be little time to dwell on this disappointment with demanding trips to Dublin and Laois fast approaching.

Teams and Scorers

Kilkenny: Joe Dowling 2-9 (8f, 1 pen), Ruairi Power 1-5, Jack Bolger 1-0, Robert Lacey; 0-1, Brion Walsh 0-1, Ross Phelan 0-1, Padraic Meany 0-1

Westmeath: Conor Williams 0-4 (3f, 1 65) Conor Raleigh 0-3 (2f), MJ Long 0-2, Aidan Doyle 0-2, Conor Raleigh 0-1 (1f), Conor Cleary 0-1, Eoin Behan 0-1.

Kilkenny: Eoin O’Gorman; Micheál Meany, Sean Kavanagh, Sean Corcoran; Paddy Grace, Jack Treacy, Oliver Phelan; Matthew Corr, Padraic Meany; Robert Lacey, Joe Dowling, Jack Bolger; James Kavanagh, Ruairí Power, Bríon Walsh.

Substitutes: Jamie Walsh for Kavanagh (17 mins), Max Edwards for Bolger (45 mins), Ross Phelan for Meeny (55 mins), Conn O’Neill Pembroke for Lacey (60 mins).

Westmeath: Ryan McNamee; Cian Matthews, Cian McKeogh, Dylan Gaffney; Cillian Clarke, Conor Williams, Eoghan Goldrick; Conor Cleary, Dean Kelly; MJ Long, Eoghan Beehan, Aidan Doyle; Dara Geary, Conor Raleigh, Tom Shaw.

Substitutes: Oisin Gavin for Gaffney (38 mins), Oisin Murray for Goldrick (46 mins), Thomas Rafter for Beehan (47 mins), Lorcan Masterson for Kelly (56 mins), Shane Murray for Raleigh (58 mins).

Referee: Kevin McDonell (Dublin)