Herity’s crucial save leaves Hickey relieved

AS a forward with the Kilkenny footballers, David Herity was once accustomed to poaching for goals. As goalkeeper for the senior hurlers, it is his job to prevent them.

It is to his credit that green flags have been just as hard to come by in his new job.

Against Wexford three weeks ago, the Dunamaggin clubman’s saves helped stem any sniff of a comeback from the home side and his intervention yesterday did likewise just when Dublin were threatening to rekindle a contest.

When Shane Durkin’s ball dropped in towards the Kilkenny square on the stroke of half-time, it was diverted goalwards by an unwitting Noel Hickey before Herity’s outstretched hurley halted the ball on the chalk.

The concession of a goal then would have left just four points between the sides and the Kilkenny defender was thankful for the role played by his clubman.

“It just flicked off me, off my helmet, and it wasn’t looking good,” said Hickey. “David got a touch to it which was a relief to me. A goal could have spurred them on but we kept them out.”

As was the case in Wexford Park, Herity and Kilkenny did concede a goal from a free but a full-back line that had creaked and groaned in the south-east stood up better to the task facing them at Croke Park yesterday.

None of Dublin’s starters in the full-forward line — David O’Callaghan, Paul Ryan or Peadar Carton — managed a score from play with Ryan’s free-taking providing the bulk of his side’s scores on the day.

“I suppose against Wexford it wasn’t great but that was only one game and you can’t judge a team over one game. The lads knew we were a bit better than that and it went a bit better for us there today,” said Hickey.

“We just try and play the first minute as we do the last minute. We just try to give it our all and we had to produce an up-tempo game, get up to speed straight away.

“We knew Dublin would be fit on the day and moving fast so it was about being ready for the challenge.”

Ready, willing and able.

Their league final defeat to Dublin had them primed.

“Every game we go out we go out to win it,” said Hickey. “We tried to win the league and it didn’t happen. The year is short and your career is short so you try to win everything that is there. That is the way we look at it.

“There is always pressure in any Leinster final you play in. Dublin had beaten us in the league and they are the up and coming team. Myself you feel pressure every day you go out, it is how you deal with it on the day.”

Kilkenny dealt with it just fine this time. Again.

Yesterday’s was their seventh provincial title on the spin, their 13th in 14 years and yet they approached this latest staging post with doubts over their ability to last the pace to September still swirling above their heads after Wexford’s limp showing.

Did that register? “Not really. We lost one match last year and lost the league final this year. We didn’t care what other people thought.

“At the start of the year we looked to get back to the All-Ireland final. That was one step along the way today. An All-Ireland semi-final we can come up against whoever and it will be a big challenge again.

“It is a good bit away to the All-Ireland semi-final and we won’t know who we are meeting.

“Whoever we do meet will have got a few more games under their belts so we’ll just get back into training. I’m not even sure how many weeks it is away, five or six, so all we can do is train hard and take it from there.”

No fuss, no flapping. Same old Kilkenny.