Another Hurling Title In The Bag For The Cats

Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Final: Kilkenny 1-19 Galway 1-12

Kilkenny's grip on the Leinster GAA Hurling Championship remains as tight as ever after a 1-19 to 1-12 defeat of Galway at Croke Park. Galway were meant to provide the first real test for the Cats in years; instead they gave another schizophrenic performance that did little to suggest they will challenge for a place at the top table this year.

On a day when the swirling breeze made mortals out of the Cats, Galway's deception was that they lived with Kilkenny in the first half and threatened to do the unimaginable - beat the Cats in Leinster for the first time since 2004. They trailed by just 1-8 to 1-5 at the break after Damien Hayes had resuscitated their challenge with a 19th minute goal.

However, John McIntyre's side would score just seven times after the break and went 21 miserable minutes without registering a point. Hayes was their beacon of hope, as the Kilkenny defence squeezed the life out of Joe Canning - his first score came after 67 minutes of play - and exposed the Westerners' for their absolute reliance on the giant Portumna man.

It was hard to tell which Galway side we would see: the one that tore Offaly apart in the first half in Portlaoise last week and reduced Cork to rubble in the league final or their alter ego, which has surfaced all too frequently this year. It was, unfortunately, the latter.

Having rattled the Cats in the Leinster semi-final last year, the theory was that another year of development and consistently tough challenges in their adopted province would help them mount an even more serious challenge to Kilkenny's hegemony in 2010.

For about 20 minutes, they did. Having trailed by 1-4 to 0-1 after just 14 minutes, Galway came back and outplayed Kilkenny in the second quarter, as Hayes caused the patently rusty Noel Hickey all sorts of problems. The support, however, was not there and Galway's lack of bite in attack was startling as they misfired badly in the second half, despite playing with the wind at their backs.

Henry Shefflin added another 1-7 to his record Championship tally, despite not having one of his best days in a black and amber shirt. He started, along with Martin Comerford, in the full-forward line, but his move further out the field in the second half was key to the Cats' transformation after the break. Kilkenny hit seven points in a row in a 13-minute spell that turned the game on its head. Galway had no answer though and will face some serious questions after their second half display.

Their first play of the game was a real statement of intent. Aidan Harte ran onto a ball down the wing and arrowed a shot through the strong breeze and the Tribesmen were up and running. They'd soon be hobbling.

Kilkenny took their time to find their feet - Shefflin and TJ Reid were off target with seemingly straight forward chances, while Shefflin again and Larkin uncharacteristically dropped shots into Galway goalkeeper Colm Callanan's hands. The swirling breeze was causing havoc for the Tribesmen, too, and their whirlwind start soon ran out of puff.

Kilkenny hit an early purple patch and struck 1-4 without reply in a four-minute spell. Shefflin steered the Cats back on course with two frees, before they drove a massive dent in Galway's defence to score the opening goal in the 13th minute. Shefflin and Comerford started in the corner forward positions in a clear attempt to take advantage of the lack height in the Galway full-back line.

Galway failed their first big test as they allowed a long ball to bounce into the path of the Ballyhale man, who took the ball without breaking stride and cracked it low past Callanan. Galway's defence had been shredded inside the first quarter and the portents did not look good when Michael Rice hit the first of two first half points from play to leave the Cats six points ahead.

However, there were early pointers that the Galway attack would cause the seemingly impregnable Kilkenny full-back line some problems. Hayes' movement was causing problems for Hickey and he had an earlier goal chance after PJ Ryan, the Kilkenny goalkeeper, had dropped a ball into his path. Hayes though sent his shot wide after a skirmish in the square; he wouldn't miss when presented with a second gift later in the half.

Farragher opened his account from a free after Hickey had nearly decapitated Hayes. Then, Hayes would expose Hickey's lack of pace again; this time with more far-reaching consequences. Another innocuous-looking long ball over the Kilkenny full-back line caused panic. Hayes was ahead of his marker again, but his touch as heavy and fell to Ryan. The Kilkenny goalkeeper and his number 3 got in a tangle and the ball fell to the livewire corner forward, who tapped into an empty net. There was a noticeable surge in Galway's confidence from that point on.

Although Joe Canning was making little headway at centre-forward, Iarla Tannian made a deposit and Farragher reduced the gap to just three points at the break. Game on.

The breeze swirled, but it definitely favoured Galway. All the ingredients were there for a classic second half.

Kilkenny put an end to any such thoughts when they hit seven points on the trot from the 39th minute. The superb TJ Reid hit two from play in that period, while substitutes Aidan Fogarty and Richie Hogan illustrated Kilkenny's endless supply of attacking riches when they each scored a sublime point. Hogan's, in particular, was a magic moment, the diminutive forward escaping full-back Shane Kavanagh with a series of feints before slotting over - the ball all the time on the end of his hurl as if it were on a string.

Galway hit five wides in the second half - 13 in total - and made little use of the wind. By the time Kevin Hynes ended a 21-minute spell without a score, Galway were 1-16 to 1-7 down and well and truly beaten.

Kilkenny were far from flawless - a total of 17 wides will attest to that - but they didn't have to be to win their 12th Leinster title in the last 13 years and their 67th in total.