Leinster SHC- Kilkenny hold off gallant Dublin in Nowlan Park thriller
Kilkenny 5-19 Dublin 3-21
Kilkenny fought off a huge second half Dublin scare to seal their place in next month's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Final.
Derek Lyng's men appeared to be in full control when they netted four first half goals via Billy Ryan, TJ Reid, Adrian Mullen and Martin Keoghan to go into the break with a huge 4-12 to 0-10 advantage but Dublin battled back in a pulsating final 35 minutes.
While the Cats did go 16 points clear at one stage, Dublin slowly but surely worked their way back into the contest with a Sean Currie goal in the 39th minute getting the ball rolling for the visitors.
Luke Hogan and TJ Reid then added on further scores for the Noresiders but a 2-4 spell without reply got Dublin back within touching distance as both Cian O'Sullivan and Sean Currie found the net.
Billy Ryan was Kilkenny's leading light on the afternoon and himself and TJ kept the scoreline tipping away but with Andrew Jamieson-Murphy emerging off the bench to hit a pair of late points for the Dubs, there was only two between them heading down the stretch.
Kilkenny rose to the challenge when they needed it the most with Jordan Molloy laying off for Billy Ryan with the Graigue Ballycallan man blasting in his second and Kilkenny's fifth goal in stoppage time to all but secure the victory.
Dublin responded with a Sean Currie free but Kilkenny held their opponents off in a frantic conclusion to the game as they made it four wins from four ahead of the visit to Wexford next weekend.
Teams and Scorers
Kilkenny: TJ Reid (1-9, 9fs); Billy Ryan (2-3); Martin Keoghan (1-2); Adrian Mullen (1-1); Jordan Molloy, Stephen Donnelly, Killian Doyle, Luke Hogan (0-1 each)
Dublin; Sean Currie (2-6, 4fs and 1'65); Cian O'Sullivan (1-5); Conor Donohue (0-4), Andrew Jamieson-Murphy (0-2); Darragh Power, Chris Crummey, Riain McBride, Fergal Whitely (0-1 each)
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Paddy Deegan; David Blanchfield, Richie Reid, Mikey Carey; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; John Donnelly, Billy Ryan, Stephen Donnelly; Adrian Mullen, TJ Reid, Martin Keoghan.
Subs: Luke Hogan for Mullen, 45 mins; Killian Doyle for Kenny, 48 mins; Fionan Mackessy for Hogan, 59 mins; Luke Connellan for S.Donnelly, 60 mins; Tommy Walsh for Blanchfield, 62 mins.
Dublin: Eddie Gibbons; John Bellew, Paddy Smyth, Conor McHugh; Paddy Doyle, Chris Crummey, Paddy Dunleavy; Conor Burke, Conor Donohue; Brian Hayes, Cian O'Sullivan, Darragh Power; Sean Currie, John Hetherton, Colin Currie.
Subs: Fergal Whitely for Dunleavy, h-t; Ronan Hayes for C.Currie, h-t; Riain McBride for Burke, 50 mins; Andrew Jamieson-Murphy for Power, 65 mins.
Referee; Michael Kennedy (Tipperary)