Young guns dig deep for Kilkenny's fab four
Kilkenny 2-13 Tipperary 0-15
The Kilkenny squad celebrate after their victory over Tipperary in yesterday's GAA Hurling All-Ireland U21 final in Croke Park
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Monday September 15 2008
World domination, Kilkenny style. The task of completing the first ever hurling championship Grand Slam fell to their U-21s who held their nerve through a difficult second-half to edge out Tipperary in the Bord Gais All-Ireland final at Croke Park yesterday.
Late points by TJ Reid and Richie Hogan secured victory, leaving Kilkenny parked proudly at the peak of the senior, U-21, minor and intermediate piles at the end of what has been a remarkable season. Tipperary did their best in the first, third and fourth quarters to wreck Kilkenny's four-timer but a poor second quarter, which they lost by 2-3 to 0-3, cost them dearly.
It left them trailing by 2-7 to 0-5 after 31 minutes and while they pared back two points before the half-time break, they were still facing a mighty challenge. To their credit, their response was defiant and effective, even if they did rely too much on the free-taking accuracy of Pa Bourke who potted eight points.
Kilkenny's lead was down to two points when Bourke pointed for the eighth time in the 58th minute and a minute later came an incident which proved a major talking point. Tipperary wing-forward Patrick Maher burst into the Kilkenny square and went to ground as defenders converged on him.
Awarded
Was he fouled? No, said referee James Owens who awarded a free out, presumably for over-carrying. It was a harsh call and video re-runs confirmed that Tipperary had grounds for grievance that they weren't awarded a penalty.
Tipp manager Declan Carr adopted a rather philosophical approach, describing it as one of those decisions that can go either way.
"In my view, it was a penalty but we didn't get it and that's all that counts," said Carr, showing an admirable level of restraint not usually associated with team managers in similar situations.
He identified Tipperary's failure to score a goal as a particularly significant factor but was understandably proud of the manner in which his team battled back after running into all sorts of trouble just before half-time.
The goal drought was due in a large part to a solid Kilkenny defence where Kieran Joyce and Paddy Hogan were solid anchors down the centre. Joyce turned in a superb performance while goalkeeper Colin McGrath also did extremely well.
Niall Walsh hurled well at midfield while Matthew Ruth and TJ Reid did most of the damage in attack. Ruth scored 2-2 from play in the first half, slamming home the goals in the 16th and 30th minutes, while Reid had a direct involvement in 1-3 in the first 22 minutes.
Tipperary tightened up considerably in the second half, allowing Ruth, Reid and indeed the rest of the Kilkenny forwards very little room. Tipperary had an excellent goal chance in the 49th minute but senior star Seamus Callinan got no power into his ground stroke close to goal.
Just as Galway minors discovered a week earlier, it's very difficult to beat Kilkenny via the point route only. And with so much at stake for Kilkenny, they were always going to be exceptionally hard to wear down.
Kilkenny manager Michael Walsh admitted that the responsibility of completing the four-timer added to the pressures for his team so his delight at the manner in which they dealt with Tipp's second-half storm was understandable.
"All-Irelands are won in the last 10 minutes and I thought the lads were tremendous in that period.
"We lost our shape a little earlier on but we dug back in. There was a lot of weight on these lads' shoulders but they carried it well," said Walsh.
Declan Carr was disappointed with the amount of ball Kilkenny were allowed to win in the air, especially in the first half but once that was sorted out, his battling youngsters worked their way back into contention and might have completed the recovery if that controversial penalty decision had gone their way.
So then, Kilkenny have entered new territory and since the U-21 grade may be replaced by U-20 next year, it's possible that no county will ever repeat this season's achievement.
It marked the end of a great week for TJ Reid who scored 0-4 for the seniors against Waterford before making a major contribution yesterday.
So who's the better manager, Brian Cody or Michael Walsh?
A coy smile and a slice of diplomacy. "They're both good," answered Reid. Indeed.
Scorers -- Kilkenny: M Ruth 2-2; R Hogan 0-6f; TJ Reid, J Mulhall 0-2 each; N Walsh 0-1. Tipperary: P Bourke 0-8f; G Ryan 0-3; S Bourke, K Lanigan, S Callinan, B Maher 0-1 each.
Kilkenny -- C McGrath 8; P Murphy 7, K Joyce 9, E O'Shea 7; L Ryan 7, P Hogan 8, N Prendergast 7; J Dowling 6, N Walsh 7; C Fennelly 7, J Mulhall 7, TJ Reid 8; M Ruth 8, N Cleere 6, R Hogan 7. Subs: JJ Farrell 6 for Cleere (36), J Maher 6 for Dowling (54), M Bergin 6 for Farrell (61).
Tipperary -- M Ryan 7; M Cahill 7, P Maher 8, K Maher 6; K Lanigan 6, T Stapleton 7, B Maher 7; G Ryan 8, S Hennessy 7; P Maher 7, S Callinan 7, T McGrath 6; P Bourke 7, M O'Meara 6, S Bourke 6. Subs: J O'Keeffe 7 for Lanigan (32), D O'Hanlon 6 for O'Meara (39), P Ivors 6 for S Bourke (48), J Ryan 6 for McGrath (50).
Ref -- J Owens (Wexford).
