Kilkenny 2-16
Galway 1-16
KILKENNY SURVIVED A late Galway comeback to record their second win on the spin at Nowlan Park. Brian Cody’s men got off to a flying start when Mark Kelly scored a goal after two minutes. The Cats led 2-11 to 0-8 at half-time but Galway showed plenty of fight in the second half.
Kelly found the net early in the piece to give his team the perfect start. Within 10 minutes, Galway found themselves trailing 1-6 to 0-2. Walter Walsh was in scoring form for the home side but Conor Cooney’s frees kept his side in touch.
Richie Hogan blasted in a goal just before the break to leave Galway reeling and JJ Farrell kept the points advantage at nine early in the second-half. The visitors found a way back into the game with 10 minutes on the clock as Cooney dispatched a penalty.
The goal made it a six point game but the Cats restricted Galway to long-range efforts in the closing stages. Richie Cummins and Padraig Brehony added late scores to make the match appear closer than it really was.
Kilkenny, having narrowly lost to Clare in their opener, bounced back well against Tipperary in a goalfest last week. Today, with stars such as Henry Shefflin and Colin Fennelly rested, the Cats eased to victory and now top the Division 1A standings.
Scorers for Kilkenny: Reid (0-6, 4f), Hogan (1-3), Kelly (1-0), Brennan and Walsh (0-3), Farrell (0-1).
Scorers for Galway: Cooney (1-8, 7f), McInerney and Healy (0-3), Brehony and Burke (0-1).
KILKENNY: E Murphy; C Fogarty, M Walsh, J Tyrrell; B Kennedy, L Ryan, C Buckley; G Brennan (P Phelan ’61), P Walsh; W Walsh, R Hogan, J Brennan (J Power ’48); JJ Farrell, M Kelly, TJ Reid.GALWAY: C Callanan; D Collins, S Kavanagh, J Coen; A Harte, I Tannian, Daithi Burke; David Burke, P Brehony; C Mannion (N Burke ’46), G McInerney, D Glennon (P Landers ’54); N Healy, C Cooney, J Flynn (P Killeen ’53).
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)