Kilkenny 2-34
Laois 1-14
Kevin Egan reports UPMC Nowlan Park
IF ANYTHING, 23 points didn’t even reflect the scale of Kilkenny’s dominance at UPMC Nowlan Park this evening, as they put Laois to the sword with an overwhelming attacking display that was too much for the midlanders to handle in this second round Leinster championship match.
Add in 17 wides and any number of missed goal chances, and the Cats could have beaten Laois by as much as they wanted here.
Four of the last six points came from Laois players, who spent most of the game struggling and failing to compete in the physical exchanges.
Cheddar Plunkett deployed Fiachra C Fennell as a sweeper and while this helped to some degree, Kilkenny quickly settled into a pattern of picking off points from distance.
The home side played with the wind in the first half and shot 12 of their wides in that period, but James Maher and Adrian Mullen at midfield, as well as their half-forward line of Pádraig Walsh, John Donnelly and Walter Walsh, all filled their boots.
Laois playing seven at the back also meant that their forwards were consistently outnumbered, but there was more to this than a numbers game, as Kilkenny proved utterly dominant in the tackle, forcing turnover after turnover in the middle third.
Laois had been living dangerously when it came to protecting their own goal, with two crucial interventions from Donnchadh Hartnett and a superb save from Enda Rowland keeping the green flag rooted in the turf, but even that run of good luck broke on the half-hour mark.
A simple long ball into a two v two situation on the edge of the square broke kindly for Eoin Cody, and the Ballyhale man wasn’t about to waste what was his third goal chance of the half.
It was as if Laois knew their fate was sealed at that stage, and Kilkenny quickly fired over six more points before the break to make it 1-20 to 0-6, and effectively game over before it even warmed up.
Perhaps due to the wind, perhaps due to a sense of the job already being done on the Kilkenny side, Laois enjoyed a lot more possession and shooting chances in the second half, though they too struggled to convert those chances into scores, posting ten wides of their own in the second half.
PJ Scully knocked over a couple of early frees but the tactic of shooting from distance didn’t serve them well, and while the scoring rate at the other end of the field wasn’t quite as prolific, still the lead continued to grow.
A trademark run and finish from Paddy Purcell early in the final quarter stemmed the bleeding somewhat, while there was a late run of scores, featuring white flags raised by Ciarán McEvoy, Ryan Mullaney and Ciarán Byrne.
At the other end substitute Tom Phelan enhanced his case for inclusion in the tougher tests ahead when he whipped in a goal, adding to an early point, but even as he did so, home and away supporters alike were looking to beat the traffic on the way home, having seen all they needed to see between two teams that are in very different places after two rounds of championship hurling.
Scorers for Kilkenny: TJ Reid 0-10 (0-7f), Eoin Cody 1-5, Adrian Mullen 0-6, Tom Phelan 1-1, Pádraig Walsh 0-4, Walter Walsh 0-4, John Donnelly 0-2, James Maher 0-2.
Scorers for Laois: Paddy Purcell 1-2, PJ Scully 0-4f, Cha Dwyer 0-3, James Keyes, Aidan Corby, Ryan Mullaney, Ciarán McEvoy, Ciarán Byrne 0-1 each.
Kilkenny:
1. Eoin Murphy (Glenmore)
6. Paddy Deegan (O’Loughlin Gaels)
3. Huw Lawlor (O’Loughlin Gaels)
4. Tommy Walsh (Tullaroan)
5. Mikey Carey (Young Irelands)
7. Conor Browne (James Stephens)
2. Mikey Butler (O’Loughlin Gaels)
8. James Maher (St. Lachtain’s)
9. Adrian Mullen (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
10. Walter Walsh (Tullogher-Rosbercon)
11. Pádraig Walsh (Tullaroan)
12. John Donnelly (Thomastown)
13. Billy Ryan (Graigue-Ballycallan)
14. TJ Reid (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
15. Eoin Cody (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
Subs: Shane Walsh (Tullaroan) for Ryan (half-time), Tom Phelan (Conahy Shamrocks) for Donnelly (46), Richie Reid (Ballyhale Shamrocks) for Deegan (49), Conor Delaney (Erin’s Own) for Lawlor (56), Darragh Corcoran (Ballyhale Shamrocks) for T Walsh (62).
Laois:
1. Enda Rowland (St. Lazerian’s, Abbeyleix)
3. Seán Downey (Ballinakill)
7. Ciarán McEvoy (Portlaoise)
2. Donnchadh Hartnett (Rosenallis)
4. Fiachra C Fennell (Rosenallis)
9. Jack Kelly (Rathdowney-Errill)
6. Liam O’Connell (Rathdowney-Errill)
5. Ryan Mullaney (Castletown)
11. Paddy Purcell (Rathdowney-Errill)
8. Aidan Corby (Clough Ballacolla)
10. Charles Dwyer (Ballinakill)
13. Mark Dowling (Camross)
14. Jordan Walsh (Clough Ballacolla)
12. James Keyes (Colt-Shanahoe)
15. PJ Scully (Borris-Kilcotton)
Subs: Ciaran Byrne (St. Lazerian’s, Abbeyleix) for Walsh (44), Eric Killeen (Rathdowney-Errill) for Corby (50), Brandon McGinley (Rathdowney-Errill) for Dowling (57), John Maher (Rosenallis) for Scully (69), Pádraic Dunne (The Harps) for O’Connell (69).
Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway)
Send those boys to Slovakia!
Zack Elbouzedi is some player MOTM from where I was sitting
@Eoin Murphy: he was excellent against Armenia as well.
@Eoin Murphy: He had a stint with WBA, I guess like Jack Byrne they will be heading back across the Irish sea again….soon!
Terrific 2nd half. Watched few of u21 games this year and they have given me hope COYBIG
I thought Lee O’Connor was terrific as well, a goal and an assist and equally worthy of MOTM.
I was roaring at the telly last night for Mick to bring Troy on in the last few minutes, really believe he could have got us something, well done Kenny and Co. The senior management need to take a leap with some of these young players, some are clearly better footballers than some regulars on the first team. Be brave Mick, we need natural strikers in the team against Slovakia
@Jimjamjim: stopped reading after roaring at the telly
@Jason Oliver: most of us watched it on telly,unfortunately we can’t all go to Dublin on a Monday night and take Tuesday off
@Jason Oliver: never read “after roaring at the telly”
@Pete mc pete: I didn’t get the impression that watching it on telly was the thing he was slagging.
Very encouraging talent in that team, and made all the better by the very smart manager. Kenny can’t take over the senior squad quick enough.
Like the new kit!
A
Such a brilliant send half performance. Ronan was like a man possessed and Parott worked so hard at tracking back. That being said they were helped by Sweden collapsing
Any chance of a look at the goals lads?
They’re all linked from this match thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/coybig/comments/dylpdn/match_thread_ireland_u21_v_sweden_u21_u21s/
If he had brought on troy and Maguire we would have qualified
@Tony O Neill: with hendrick in midfield he wouldn’t have got the ball
@Eoin Murphy:
@Tony O Neill: You must have fallen asleep. He did bring on Maguire.
This is the most excited I’ve been about a group of young Irish players since Brian Kerrs under 16s and 18s in the 90s. Especially the attacking players. To think that we had two premiership strikers missing tonight but still put out the talent we did is crazy. Crazier still is that several of them are still in their teens and could have a couple or more years in the U 21s, though I suspect a few will be fast tracked into the senior squad more regularly.
@Ger: Always good to get your perspective Ger on the matches. I’ll make a few observations from this eventful week for Ireland (all levels). Our U17s beat Israel 4-2. Our U21s beat Sweden 4-1 (7-1 over both matches with them). McCarthy stuck to relying on the same starting 11 he has used for the most part throughout the group games. And yet, probably with a stark reminder and boot up the backside, the same players who could not pass a ball or keep possession, played last night, not with huff and puff, but with confidence, belief, and dare I say, like a team who can boss a match by playing football and even entertain. The same players who looked inept against Gibraltar and Georgia months ago.
There were few poor performances. They just didn’t have that one or two players to make a difference. Whelan is limited, but hats off to the guy. He has often outshone his midfield compatriots this campaign, including Hourihane and Hendrick and McLean. He does his job given by the manager, they don’t.
Like you. I’m positive. I have some serious concerns about Moran and the U19s. They seem out of sinc with the other youth levels. McCarthy can have his March Fair and let’s see where we go from there. By then, Kenny, hopefully, will have the U21s qualified, and ready to move in. It can’t come soon enough and a clearout of at least a third of the current senior squad.
Brilliant performance in the second half! Every single player at least 8/10.
@mar: Unfortunately there are 90 minutes in a match.
Agree with alot of comments here, was at both games, best performance in a good while on Monday, left me thinking about settling for a draw in Georgia, win that game and a draw would have done us. I know people will say Denmark didn’t beat them either but we had a chance and we really didn’t go for it. I thought Browne was excellent on Monday.
As for last night the result and second half performance was very impressive, coming from 1 down and bossing the game was great to see, one person not mentioned in comments was Liam Scales, thought he was terrific when he came on.
Future looks bright
Move all u21s up to senior squad