Kilkenny battle past Offaly to secure place in Leinster Minor Hurling Championship semi-final

A string of long-range scores from defenders Mikey Stynes, David Barcoe and Darragh Vereker late on ensured the Cats did enough to progress.

INTO THE SEMIS: Kilkenny celebrate after scoring a goal during an Electric Ireland Leinster GAA Minor Hurling Championship match between Kilkenny and Offaly. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Electric Ireland Leinster MHC Quarter-Final

Kilkenny 2-15 Offaly 0-14

Kilkenny picked up the victory that they were widely expected to deliver in Sunday's Leinster MHC quarter-final clash with Offaly at the Faithful Fields in Kilcormac.

But they were pushed to the wire by a ferociously competitive home side, and only widened the margin in the closing stages when a string of long-range scores from defenders Mikey Stynes, David Barcoe and Darragh Vereker rounded off a hugely enjoyable encounter.

The home side, with just one player from last year’s starting team that reached the All-Ireland final, came in relatively under the radar after some mixed performances in the round robin stages.

But they were very competitive early on in this tie, with long-range scores from Gearóid Maher and Liam O’Riordan helping them to move into an 0-5 to 0-3 lead.

The contest shifted decisively in favour of Niall Bergin’s young cats when a shot from Ed McDermott dropped on the corner of the small parallelogram, and corner forward Conor Doyle was sharpest in his reaction, prodding the ball past Éanna Mulhare for the opening goal after 18 minutes.

McDermott, starting for the first time this year after injury issues, had a wonderful connection with his younger brother Bill throughout, and it was a clever pass from Bill that set up Ed for Kilkenny’s second goal, ensuring a 2-5 to 0-8 interval lead.

The battle between the older McDermott brother and Offaly full-back Richie Bracken was a real highlight of this contest, with both young players emerging with immense credit.

The pressure greatly increased on Bracken and the Offaly full-back-line in the third quarter, and only an uncharacteristic series of wides (five of Kilkenny’s nine wides came in this 15-minute spell) prevented them from pushing clear.

Mark Mulrooney continued to carry the fight for Offaly, firing over three fine points to help leave just two points between the sides going into the last ten minutes, but Kilkenny found their stride late on to ensure they will go into next weekend’s semi-final clash with Wexford with real momentum.

Scorers for Kilkenny: E McDermott 1-4, M Stynes 0-4 (0-1f, 0-2 65s), C Doyle 1-1 (0-1f), S Bergin 0-2, G Kelly 0-1, D Barcoe 0-1, B McDermott 0-1.

Scorers for Offaly: L O’Riordan 0-5 (0-4f), M Mulrooney 0-3, G Maher 0-2 (0-1 65, 0-1f), A Cleary 0-2, D Hollywood 0-1, F Carney 0-1.

Kilkenny: B O’Sullivan; D Barcoe, E Murphy, C Brophy; R Garrett, M Stynes, M Ahern; D Vereker, E Lauhoff; S Bergin, G Kelly, B McDermott; C Doyle, E McDermott, B Moore.

Subs: S Kinsella for Doyle (48), R Doherty for Moore (54), C Phelan for Lauhoff (58), J O’Neill for B McDermott (60).

Offaly: É Mulhare; C Larkin, R Bracken, D Daly; L Bracken, G Maher, A Cleary; J O’Sullivan, H Sweeney; N Flannery, L O’Riordan, M Mulrooney; C Bourke, R Carney, D Scully.

Subs: D Hollywood for Carney (40), F Carney for O’Sullivan (53), J Morkan for Flannery (56).

Referee: B Kearney (Kildare).