Cats get claws into Dublin
This wasn’t just a win, this was a demolition job, a ruthless destruction of a Dublin team that many saw as being a coming force in Leinster. And with it a stark message. All the other major All-Ireland contenders have been in the ring already and made their claims, but now Kilkenny have had their say and the word is this – Kilkenny remain the team to beat, and on the evidence of this display, it’s going to take some team to beat them.
The hope for Dublin yesterday, winners already over Laois in the quarter-final, was that because this was Kilkenny’s championship opener they might be a little rusty. That hope lasted for all of half a minute, the time it took for ace goal-poacher Eddie Brennan (who else) to steal in behind the Dublin rearguard, accept a well-placed pass from new Kilkenny captain TJ Reid, and blast to the net.
