Powerlifts the siege for Kilkenny

Star performer John Power produced four points during the closing five minutes, and boosted by another from Ger Aylward, 14-man Kilkenny cobbled together a battling victory over Westmeath yesterday.

Power drilled home a goal 30 seconds into the closing half to help Kilkenny open out a commanding 11-point lead (1-15 to 0-7) and it looked like Westmeath were dead and buried. However, home defender, Eamon Walsh was dismissed in the 41st minute with a second yellow card and the dynamic of the game changed.

Eight minutes from the end Westmeath, thanks to an uninterrupted flow of points from free taker Brendan Murtagh, Cormac Boyle, Andrew Mitchell and Dan Carty, had the deficit back to two points. Suddenly the place in the final against Galway next Sunday was there to be won.

The home side regained dominance when John Power pointed a free in the 65th minute, their first score in nearly quarter of an hour. That lifted the pressure, and Kilkenny roared on to tack over four points while keeping the opposition scoreless.

Again Kilkenny chose to field a development squad. Their manager, Richie Mulrooney, must have been happy with his players, particularly the way they opened and finished. The winners’ hurling during the opening 20 minutes was superb and they sliced open the opposition with fast movement of the ball.

After Paul O’Flynn opened the scoring in the second minute, the winners added six more without reply before Westmeath got off the mark through Brendan Murtagh with a converted free in the 16th minute (0-7 to 0-1). The losers looked out of their depth, but a pair of points from Brendan Murtagh near the end of the half, gave them some hope when they went in for the rest 0-6 to 0-14 behind.

When Power cracked home a terrific goal for Kilkenny within seconds of the restart to send them 11 clear, it looked like Westmeath were dead and buried. The sending off changed things, however, and the losers stormed back.

But when the pressure was most intense the Cats lifted their game, and Power inspired them to what was a very good win.

Scorers for Kilkenny: J Power 1-8 (6fs), M Bergin 0-4, G Aylward 0-3, P O’Flynn, C Buckley, M Aylward 0-2 each, L Harney, P Walsh 0-1 each.

Scorers for Westmeath: B Murtagh 1-10 (1-8fs), A Mitchell 0-3 (0-1f), D Fennell, C Boyle, D Carty 0-1 each.

KILKENNY: D Walsh; J Corcoran, E Walsh, B Kennedy; P Walsh, W Phelan, J Holden; C Buckley, D McCormack; P O’Flynn, L Harney, M Bergin; M Aylward, J Power, G Aylward.

Subs: M Gaffney for O’Flynn (ht), C Tobin for McCormack (46), S Phelan for Holden (46), R Reid for Aylward (56).

WESTMEATH: C Scally; P Fennelly, A Price, C Jordan; D Fennell, E Price, P Gilseain; P Dowdall, C Boyle; A Mitchell, F Boyle, P Greville; D Higgins, B Murtagh, J Shaw.

Subs: A Dermody for Higgins (22), D Carty for C Boyle (55), J Gilligan for Dermody (55), D McCormack for Gilseain (57).

Referee: P Murphy (Carlow).