Ryan strike halts Dublin comeback as Kilkenny prevail
On a day when the temperatures soared to the mid-twenties, the hurling absolutely sizzled as fortunes swayed one way and then the other, on several occasions actually.
Then with 69 minutes showing on the clock, weary midfielder Jordan Molloy waltzed through the losers defence and off-loaded the sliotar to Ryan. The Graigue-Ballycallan man lashed the ball into the net from a tight angle and 12 metres on the right to more or less give Kilkenny the victory that shot them through to the final and rendered next weekend's outing away to Wexford a meaningless affair.
On the other hand, Dublin entertain Galway in their last game, and it is all to play for with the winners going through to the final.
The first half was a contrasting affair. Playing against the fresh breeze and all, the strong running Dubs dominated early on. However, once Kilkenny scored their opening goal in the 15th minute they bossed affairs.
The star man early on was Dublin's Cian O'Sullivan, who flashed over three points during the opening five minutes. He wore the No. 11 jersey, but where exactly he played no one really knew. He was effective, very effective with his frightening pace and deadly accuracy hurting the Cats as he helped himself to five scores from play in this half.
The scores were level four times during the opening 15 minutes, with Dublin making all the running. Then suddenly they were stopped in their tracks. A huge Kilkenny free from their own 40 by Cian Kenny rained down on the edge of the losers square, and when the defence failed to deal with it, Adrian Mullen flicked the breaking ball home from close range.
A second goal, Kilkenny's fourth, also came from a high delivery that the visitors defence failed to deal with. Martin Keoghan put his name on this one following a clearance from full-back, Huw Lawlor.
In between the Cats had goals from Billy Ryan after a quickly taken lineball and 1-2 involving Cian Kenny (18th minute) and T.J. Ryan (28th minute) after a defence splitting run by Ryan. This scoring rush carried the winners into a strong interval lead of 4-12 to 0-10, which was something after their early uncertainty.
When the Cats opened the second half with back-to-back points from Jordan Molloy and T.J. Reid, the script appeared to be set. The Dubs didn't think so. A lovely goal from Sean Currie threw the Dubs a lifeline, although they were slow to grasp it. Passing the 45 minute mark they still trailed by 1-12 to 4-16 and things weren't looking too bright.
During a crazy 10 minutes scoring spree Dublin nabbed 2-4, the big scores falling to the hugely effective Sean Currie (free) and the wonderful Cian O'Sullivan as they clawed the divide back to a single score, 4-16 to 3-16.
The Cats were made sweat all the way home after that, until Ryan's golden late strike. They had a narrow escape in the 63rd minute when Dublin sub Ronan Hayes had a bullet-like drive turned out for a 65, which Currie turned into a point to cut the gap to 4-18 to 3-18.
Later back-to-back points from Dublin sub Andrew Jamieson Murphy left a mere two points between the sides. Then up popped Billy Ryan to deliver the decisive score.
Kilkenny: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, P Deegan; D Blanchfield, R Reid, M Carey; C Kenny, J Molloy (0-01); J Donnelly, B Ryan (2-03), S Donnelly (0-01); A Mullen (1-01), TJ Reid (1-09, 0-09f), M Keoghan (1-02).
Subs: L Hogan (0-01) for Mullen (44); K Doyle (0-01) for C Kenny (inj, 47); F Mackessy for L Hogan (inj, 59); L Connellan for S Donnelly (70); T Walsh for Blanchfield (71).
Dublin: E Gibbons; J Bellew, P Smyth, C McHugh; P Doyle, C Crummey (0-01), P Dunleavy; C Burke, C Donohoe (0-04); B Hayes, C O'Sullivan (1-05), D Power (0-01); S Currie (2-6, 1-04f), J Hetherton, C Currie.
Subs: F Whitely (0-01) for P Dunleavy ht; R Hayes for C Currie ht; R McBride (0-01) for C Burke (48); A Jamieson Murphy (0-02) for D Power (64).
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