Kilkenny finds another gear to beat Galway in the Leinster SHC clash...

Kilkenny 2-20 Galway 3-13


Kilkenny are back in another Leinster SHC final after beating Galway in this SHC semi-final at O'Connor Park in Tullamore. They will now meet the winners of the Dublin-Wexford match being played on Sunday (6/21); while Galway will wait for the draw on Sunday evening to see who they will play in the next round of the Qualifiers.

I watched this exciting match on the web and there are a few interesting points to note. Galway put it up to the reigning All-Ireland Champions and came closer to dethroning Kilkenny than any other team has in the last couple of years. Their 3-13 tally would come quite close to a winning score on another day (well, maybe not against the powerhouse that is Kilkenny). Despite going 5 points up against the Cats in the second half, the Tribesmen seem to lose composure and run out of steam in the final quarter of the game. On the other hand, the Cats never showed panic, but did show that they had more in the tank than Galway. And so, ran out deserving winners in the end up.

Strong performances from the likes of Eoin Larkin (0-5, Man of the Match), Henry Shefflin (0-10) and Aidan Fogarty (0-3) truly shows that this Kilkenny panel is a dynasty. I think Galway rely too much on the young Master Joe Canning (2-09) for their scores.

Going forward, I believe that Galway can gain alot from their performance in this match and will be a force to reckon with in the Qualifiers. I wouldn't be surprised if they face up against Kilkenny later in Championship. However, I don't there's a county in Ireland this year that will stop Kilkenny from claiming their fourth All-Ireland SHC in a row come September. In doing so, it would tie with Cork's record of 4-in-a-row (1941-1944). Well, we will have to wait and see. There's a lot of hurling to be played yet this summer!

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