Power brothers net for Kilkenny to ensure 10th All-Ireland for Shefflin

Kilkenny 2-17 Tipperary 2-14

By Cóilín Duffy

Two second-half goals were crucial as Kilkenny delivered their second All-Ireland SHC Final replay win in three years, and a 10th All-Ireland SHC medal for Henry Shefflin at Croke Park this evening.

With a six-point lead and three and a half minutes remaining Kilkenny looked odds on for victory, but a tense finish ensued after Tipperary bagged their second goal from Seamus Callanan with a minute of normal time left on the clock.

But the Cats stood firm to ensure a seventh win over Tipperary in a decider.

Just as was the case in the drawn encounter this game began at a tremendous pace, with neither side giving an inch.

A strong feature throughout was the excellent blocking by both sides, and in particular Kilkenny in the opening half.

All six Cats defenders had made some fine catches inside the opening 27 minutes, with Tipperary offered little change.

Despite this Eamon O’’Shea’s charges bagged the first two scores, with Shane and Noel McGrath helping the Premier County to a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after just five minutes.

But Cody’s charges responded superbly, firing four unanswered points, including superb scores from Man of the Match in the drawn encounter Richie Hogan.

This ensured a double-scores lead by the 12th minute, but Tipp came storming back.

Callanan equalised with his opening point four minutes later, but again Kilkenny took the lead, with a superb score from Michael Fennelly, after an excellent catch by JJ Delaney at midfield.

TJ Reid pushed Kilkenny two points clear, but defences were on top over the next ten minutes and in particular the Cats rear-guard.

Shane McGrath cut the gap to a point in the 28th minute, before the opening goal, as Lar Corbett burst through at lightning pace, before feeding Callanan who rocked the Kilkenny net and handed his side a 1-5 to 0-6 lead.

This was the first time in which the Cats defence had been opened up and although Reid and Fennelly bagged scores before the break, it was Tipperary who held a 1-7 to 0-8 interval lead.

With both sides relatively clinical in the opening half, and just five wides between them a similarly powerful second half was expected.

But it was Kilkenny who made that explosive start, as they gave Tipperary little opportunities in the opening 10 minutes of the half.

By the 43rd minute the Black and Amber clad side had opened up a 0-13 to 1-7 lead, as Cody’s charges done little wrong.

Five unanswered points and just one wide came during this spell, where there were also goal chances, but in this department Tipperary stood firm.

In contrast Tipperary equalled their first half wides tally of three by the 45th minute, with John O’Dwyer sending a free wide which brought their tally to six at that stage.

Richie Power, TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly all claimed points in that Kilkenny purple patch, but Tipperary worked hard.

Noel McGrath, Callanan and O’Dwyer all claimed point to cut the gap to the minimum as the final quarter approached.

As images of Henry Shefflin warming up appeared on the big-screen the Cats delivered another massive score, with Eoin Larkin bagging his first point of the match.

Tipperary failed to give up with Callanan bagging his second goal with 60 seconds left on the clock, and with three minutes of injury-time to come it was still anyones game.

But Kilkenny’s experience shone through with Colin Fennelly bagging a vital point late on to ensure a three-point win.

After the game Kilkenny captain Lester Ryan accepted the Liam MacCarthy Cup from GAA President Liam Ó Neill, with Ó Neill having a special word for record breaker Henry Shefflin in his speech.

Scorers for Kilkenny: TJ Reid 0-5(5f), R Power 1-1 (1 '65'), J Power 1-1, C Fennelly 0-3, R Hogan 0-2, M Fennelly 0-2, E Larkin 0-2, P Walsh 0-1

Scorers for Tipperary: S Callanan 2-5 (4f, 0-1 pen), J O'Dywer 0-3 (1 '65'), S McGrath 0-3, N McGrath 0-2, B Maher 0-1

KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Paul Murphy, JJ Delaney, Jackie Tyrrell; Pádraig Walsh, Kieran Joyce, Cillian Buckley; Richie Hogan, Conor Fogarty; Michael Fennelly, Colin Fennelly, Eoin Larkin; Richie Power, TJ Reid, John Power. Subs: Joey Holden for J Tyrrell (Blood Sub, 16-18), J Holden for JJ Delaney (Blood Sub, 36-HT), Henry Shefflin for R Hogan (58), Lester Ryan for M Fennelly (67).

TIPPERARY: Darren Gleeson; Cathal Barrett, Pádraic Maher, Paddy Stapleton; Brendan Maher, James Barry, Kieran Bergin; Shane McGrath, James Woodlock; Gearóid Ryan, Patrick Maher, John O’Dwyer; Noel McGrath, Seamus Callanan, Lar Corbett. Subs: Michael Cahill for S McGrath (56), Conor O'Mahony for G Ryan (64), Shane Bourke for L Corbett (65), Jason Forde for N McGrath (67), John O'Brien for J O'Dwyer (70)

Referee: Brian Gavin (Offaly)