Kilkenny braced for titanic tussle against old foes Tipp
FINAL FEELING: Kilkenny players from left Patrick Lacey, Jake Mullen and Louis Raggett celebrate after the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Semi-Final match between Kilkenny and Clare at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
Niall Bergin expects another titanic tussle when Kilkenny and Tipperary meet in the All-Ireland minor final after both sides gritted out extra-time semi-final victories.
The Cats got there by dethroning All-Ireland champions Clare with 13 points from Jake Mullen, brother of senior star Adrian.
They are now one game away from a first All-Ireland minor title since 2014.
“It just goes to show how tight the minor championship is. Yesterday’s game was unreal and today’s game was very good as well,” said Kilkenny boss Bergin.
“We played Tipperary earlier in the year in a superb challenge match at Dr Morris Park. It was very tight and something tells me the final will be the same.”
They had to overcome some shooting yips as after Mullen’s opening point, Kilkenny struck a remarkable 10 wides in a row across the next 15 minutes.
“We encourage the boys to shoot,” said Bergin. “We thought a lot of the shots were on but they weren’t going over. In fairness, the lads showed tremendous heart and tremendous fight.
“We changed up the way we hurled halfway through the first half. We had to. It was a necessity really. We started moving the ball through the lines and put Clare under a bit more pressure.”
Clare had blitzed 2-3 to lead by eight, with goals for their first two scores via a Conor Ralph rebound and Paul Rodgers’ strike.
Kilkenny’s wides included a 10th-minute Mullen penalty miss after Ollie O’Donovan had been chopped down by McNamara.
They settled when Conor Holohan bounced the sliotar through the keeper’s legs to leave them trailing 2-6 to 1-4 at half-time.
Mullen was brought out the field and his six points drew the sides level by the three-quarter mark as Clare’s wide tally rose into double-figures.
In the 47th minute, they moved ahead when O’Donovan found the bottom corner at the second attempt for a 2-11 to 2-8 lead.
They led by four as late as the 58th minute but Clare kept running at them and reeled off points from Darragh McNamara and Harry Doherty (0-3) to level.
Kevin Buggy looked like he had won it but Rodgers equalised again in the final seconds of the four added minutes to make it 2-15 apiece.
Kilkenny rebuilt their four-point lead with scores from Mullen (0-2), Buggy, and an incredible Patrick Lacey effort. Clare's Rodgers then received a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident at the end of the half with the scoreboard reading 2-20 to 2-16.
Matthew Corbett struck three frees but Kilkenny held on with scores from Mullen, Robbie Doherty, and Lacey’s second.
“This is our third All-Ireland semi-final in a row and three Munster finals as well. That’s not really usual for Clare hurling over the last number of years but we want it to be the usual,” said Clare manager Brian O’Connell.
J Mullen (0-13, 9 frees); O O’Donovan, C Holohan (1-0 each); R Doherty, B McDermott (0-3 each); K Buggy, P Lacey (0-2 each).
H Doherty (0-7, 4 frees); C Ralph (1-2); M Corbett (0-5, 5 frees); P Rodgers (1-1); D Kennedy, J Cullinan, P Finneran, D McNamara, J O’Connor (0-1 each).
J O’Doherty (Mooncoin); O Henderson (Dicksboro), L Phelan (James Stephens), B Brennan (Erin’s Own); D Barcoe (Clara), J Dollard (Glenmore), M Rohan (Carrickshock); K Buggy (Erin’s Own), E Brennan (Erin’s Own); R Doherty (Mooncoin), B McDermott (James Stephens, capt), C Holohan (O’Loughlin Gaels); O O’Donovan (John Lockes), J Mullen (Ballyhale Shamrocks), J Cody (Glenmore).
L Raggett (Dicksboro) for Dollard (12-h-t, blood), Raggett for B Brennan (h-t), E Cahill (Graigue-Ballycallan) for Cody (38), C Byrne (O’Loughlin Gaels) for McDermott (58), P Lacey (Dicksboro) for E Brennan (58), C McEvoy (James Stephens) for Holohan (73), A Clifford (Dicksboro) for Cahill (73), D Behan (James Stephens) for Barcoe (79, inj).
M Crotty (Scariff); S Óg Kilkenny (Bodyke), S McNamara (Clooney-Quin), D Moroney (Éire Óg Ennis); R Mulcahy (Éire Óg Ennis), J Cullinan (Ruan), D Kennedy (Ballyea); G Ball (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield), M Corbett (Clooney-Quin); P Finneran (Clooney-Quin), T Lohan (Cratloe), H Doherty (Clarecastle, capt); C Ralph (Clarecastle), P Rodgers (Scariff), L Murphy (O’Callaghan’s Mills).
R Hayes (Tulla) for G Ball (41), D McNamara (Clooney-Quin) for Lohan (45), D Ball (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield) for Corbett (52), J O’Connor (Clooney-Quin) for Ralph (53), M Vaughan (Broadford) for Finneran (60), Finneran for Vaughan (66), E Crimmins (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for Kennedy (h-t e-t), Corbett for Finneran (h-t e-t).
Red card: P Rodgers (70+3).
C Cunning (Antrim).
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