Kilkenny reach Leinster final after rip-roaring contest with Dublin

Kilkenny led by 14 points at half-time but Dublin reduced the gap to just two with a minute of normal time to play. 

Kilkenny picked their fourth win of the Leinster SHC with victory over Dublin. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Leinster SHC Kilkenny 5-19 Dublin 3-21 

Kilkenny are through to the Leinster SHC final, and with a game to spare, but they lived on their wits at UPMC Nowlan Park before escaping with a remarkable Round 4 win.

TJ Reid's 1-9 haul, 2-2 from Billy Ryan and goals from Martin Keoghan and Adrian Mullen were all significant as the Cats made it four wins in a row to move top of the table on their own.

In the process, they secured their return to the Leinster final, despite still having a group game to go against Wexford next weekend.

But those bald stats fail to tell the story of a rip-roaring Round 4 contest which Kilkenny led by 14 points at half-time only to see that advantage whittled down to just two in the 69th minute.

Niall O Ceallachain's Dublin came to life in the second-half and reeled off 2-4 without response between the 50th and 56th minutes to turn an apparent lost cause into a genuine game again.

But just as Dublin looked like they might pinch a remarkable result to keep their own 100% intact after three previous wins, Ryan popped up for his second goal, and Kilkenny's fifth, to set the seal on a memorable win.

Dublin could still join Derek Lyng's Kilkenny in the final if they beat Galway at Parnell Park in their final group game next Sunday.

Dublin knew this would be a step up in class after wins over Offaly, Wexford and Antrim though couldn't have expected to be 14 points down at half-time.

The sides were level four times up to 0-5 apiece in the opening 15 minutes or so but when Mullen struck Kilkenny's first goal in the 16th minute, it opened the floodgates.

Ryan added the hosts' second goal two minutes later and Reid got in on the goalscoring act in the 29th minute.

Three minutes later, Keoghan grabbed Kilkenny's fourth goal to leave the holders sitting pretty with a 4-12 to 0-10 half-time advantage.

Mullen and Keoghan both struck their goals from close range after long deliveries into the danger area broke kindly.

The Ryan and Reid goals were more to do with individual excellence as both players burst in from the wings before unleashing shots that beat Eddie Gibbons.

Cian O'Sullivan was Dublin's most potent attacker and hit five first-half points from play.

But the 2013 champions got little joy out of long deliveries towards towering targetman John Hetherton and were unable to get their precise passing game going either.

Kilkenny exerted a tight grip all in most areas of the pitch with Cian Kenny and Jordan Molloy holding their own against Dublin's in-form midfield of Conor Burke and Conor Donohoe.

Reid started at full-forward for Kilkenny but dropped deep at times too and had 1-6 racked up by half-time, all of his points coming from frees.

Dublin had the slight wind advantage after the break but were better anyhow, gaining an advantage at midfield where Donohoe really came into his own.

He shot three second-half points while Sean Currie gave Dublin fans hope with a 39th minute goal.

But it wasn't until their second and third goals, in the 53rd and 54th minutes, by Currie again and O'Sullivan, that Dublin looked like potentially getting something from this game.

They fought brilliantly in the final 20 minutes or so and AJ Murphy sniped back to back points after coming on, leaving two in it.

But Kilkenny aren't chasing a six-in-a-row of provincial titles for nothing and duly killed off the Metropolitans with that late Ryan goal.

Scorers for Kilkenny: TJ Reid 1-9 (0-9f), Billy Ryan 2-2, Martin Keoghan 1-3, Adrian Mullen 1-0, Stephen Donnelly 0-1, Billy Ryan 0-1, Killian Doyle 0-1, Jordan Molloy 0-1, Luke Hogan 0-1.

Scorers for Dublin: Sean Currie 2-6 (1-4f, 0-1 65), Cian O'Sullivan 1-5, Conor Donohoe 0-4, Andrew Jamieson-Murphy 0-2, Darragh Power 0-1, Rian McBride 0-1, Chris Crummey 0-1, Fergal Whitely 0-1.

KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Paddy Deegan; David Blanchfield, Richie Reid, Mikey Carey; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; Adrian Mullen, John Donnelly, Billy Ryan; Martin Keoghan, TJ Reid, Stephen Donnelly.

Subs: Killian Doyle for Blanchfield 24-25, blood, Luke Hogan for Mullen 45, Doyle for Kenny 48, Fionan Mackessy for Hogan 59, Luke Connellan for S Donnelly 71, Tommy Walsh for Blanchfield 72.

DUBLIN: Eddie Gibbons; Conor McHugh, Paddy Smyth, John Bellew; Paddy Doyle, Chris Crummey, Paddy Dunleavy; Conor Burke, Conor Donohoe; Cian O'Sullivan, Brian Hayes, Darragh Power; Sean Currie, John Hetherton, Colin Currie.

Subs: Fergal Whitely for Dunleavy h/t, Ronan Hayes for Colin Currie h/t, Rian McBride for Burke 49, Andrew Jamieson-Murphy for Power 65.

Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary).