Strength-in-depth of panel allowed Cats to bump and grind

"Listen up lads, there are five changes to the Kilkenny team," announced the steward to a crowded press box 20 minutes before throw-in.

Corrective surgery was expected, though certainly not to this extent.

Anthony Cunningham had forced Brian Cody into a raft of changes for the replay decider back in 2012, this, however, was breaking new ground. Five changes in personnel and eight positional switches.

Panic in the Kilkenny camp? Don’t be so naive.

Banished to the sideline were Brian Kennedy, Kieran Joyce, Walter Walsh, Mark Kelly and the injured Richie Power, starting berths handed to Conor Fogarty, Brian Hogan, Tommy Walsh, Joey Holden and Aidan Fogarty.

Last week’s composition had failed to hold a nine-point advantage with four minutes remaining and so the axe required wielding. Kilkenny, to a borrow phrase from Enda McEvoy of this parish, had come to bump and grind. More significant, though, is that the panel’s strength-in-depth allowed Kilkenny to bump and grind.

Let’s return to last year and Kilkenny’s Leinster semi-final games with Dublin. A last-gasp TJ Reid point saved the Cats the first day out and yet the team which took to the field for the replay six days later bore only two changes in personnel, though quite evident far more were required. Dublin deservedly claimed the spoils and Kilkenny were forced down the back roads.

Their subsequent fixtures against Tipperary, Waterford and Cork, above everything else, served to further highlight the shortcomings in panel strength.

“Everyone knows a lot of our players have been playing for a very long time,” said Cody last November. “The players weren’t hitting markers they would have set for themselves. It’s the way all teams go. No team can churn it out year after year.”

Cody acknowledged fresh talent thus required unearthing, a task he diligently set about this spring – newcomers Brian Kennedy, Padraig Walsh, Mark Kelly and Joey Holden seizing on the opportunities thrown their direction.

Saturday evening’s challenge was impressively passed, perhaps not with flying colours but enough to suggest they will reclaim the Bob O’Keeffe Cup on Sunday. And while granted it was old-stagers Jackie Tyrrell and Brian Hogan who were most effective, supporting roles were competently played by the panel’s latest arrivals. Joey Holden didn’t put a foot wrong at wing-back, with Padraig Walsh landing three outstanding points from centre-forward.

Aidan Fogarty, one of the five Kilkenny players brought to our attention by that all-knowing steward, said panel strength was a key factor in this Tullamore tango.

“You’ve seen all the changes from last week and that just in a week. There’s five changes and look it’s a panel game,” he surmised.

“Walter Walsh came in and he’s a big impact sub. He’s got plenty of basic ability and it’s a 36-man panel. I suppose looking back through the years I would never have seen this many changes especially when there was just a light week of training. There wasn’t any tough training for anyone to prove themselves. It was just Brian making changes, keeping it fresh I suppose.

“All year long he’s talked about it as a panel game and 20 people can be used on the day. He proved that today.”

Added corner-back Paul Murphy: “Jackie Tyrrell was doing a great job at centre-back and it was great from our point of view that we have that capability where we can move Jackie back into the corner. Who better than Brian Hogan then to come in at centre-back. If that isn’t working out then we have Brian Kennedy on the bench, Kieran Joyce, a multitude of lads to come in. It is great that we are capable of doing that. It wasn’t for any uncertainty that there were switches. We learned from last week.”

Finally, brief mention for the men from the west.

Former Galway hurler Cathal Moore hit the nail on the head during the week when he said “we didn’t know what Galway team would show up last week and we don’t know what Galway team will show up on Saturday”.

What we got was the traditional, pull-your-hair-out under-performing Galway.

Encapsulating the team’s performance was the display of Joe Canning. The centre-forward’s entire first-half contribution amounted to three sideline cuts, none of which were converted, and the winning of two frees, only one of which was he in possession of the sliothar for. Not one ball did he strike from open play in 35 minutes of hurling.

“You get evenings like that,” mused Cunningham afterwards.

For Galway hurling supporters there have been simply too many of them.