TJ Reid and Martin Keoghan star as Kilkenny dismiss toothless Galway
KILKENNY 3-22 GALWAY 1-20
SIix-in-a-row in Leinster for Kilkenny and it never looked in doubt at Croke Park yesterday.
Derek Lyng's men are now firmly on a collision course with a Limerick side set to face Dublin or KIldare in the All-Ireland quarter-final in a fortnight's time.
Whether they're properly tested or not, Kilkenny were very impressive in landing a 77th Leinster title, as Galway's wait for Leinster crown number four stretches into an eighth year.
A late spurt from 13 points back on 58 minutes put some gloss on the scoreline, but Micheál Donoghue's side were badly beaten up here, particularly in the third quarter.
Saying that, for a fleeting moment it looked like Derek Lyng might have started wheeling in the subs too soon as his 58th minute double change was followed by a Galway 1-6 burst without reply.
The lead was down to four at one stage after Cathal Mannion went short with a free for Brian Concannon to stick it in the roof of the net on 63 minutes and spark a Galway revival.
But with Kilkenny under pressure Eoin Murphy was only looking in one direction. TJ Reid duly plucked the ball from the skies and found Adrian Mullen for a relieving 67th minute score - his fourth from play.
Kilkenny had more firepower in general with Martin Keoghan top scoring from play with 2-2, his goals both opportunistic efforts as he lurked in around the square.
The Galway starting attack shot just 1-9 from play compared to Kilkenny's 3-12 from play so they can have little complaints and know what they have to go after in the next fortnight with Tipperary or Laois up next in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
The game defining moment saw Martin Keogan race back 20 yards to turn the ball over with a hook, before feeding TJ Reid for a 57th minute goal that put Kilkenny 12 points clear and in total command.
Galway only had 12 points after 58 minutes, before a late spurt of 1-8 in the final 12 minutes, but it was too little too late.
While Conor Whelan had a big influence on the first half out the field, he finished scoreless and his presence and ball winning ability inside was probably missed, but then it is also needed at half forward.
That's one of a number of conundrums the Galway management have to weigh up.
Injuries didn't help Galway either with defender Fintan Burke going off in first half stoppage time.
Goalkeeper Eanna Murphy was also forced out at half-time, and with Darach Fahy suspended, third choice goalie Darragh Walsh came in for his championship debut.
Walsh spilled a ball at the end for Keoghan's second goal, but Galway were four behind with just over a minute remaining and the game was probably up anyway.
Brief respite from a cagey first half came from a familiar source.
You could almost see TJ Reid smelling goal with every step and sensing that there weren't going to be many big chances in the game, as the Galway defence opened up,
It was the first long ball he won close to goal. Everyone in the stadium knew it was on as he turned and sped in on goal.
Galway goalie Murphy dived low to push his shot away, Martin Keoghan was on hand to flick it over the line for a 1-9 to 0-8 lead on 33 minutes.
Keoghan caught Murphy accidentally with his knee, and although he continued, seconds later John Donnelly caught him high and was yellow carded, with the goalie going off at half-time.
Adrian Mullen, roving deep, ran the first 15 minutes of a tit for tat game that lacked any real excitement, impressive and all as the set piece plays and points from puck outs were.
It was like night and day compared to the chaos of the Munster Final from the night before, although that was played in front of a packed house, while Croke Park wasn't half full here.
Both sides played with a sweeper, Galway's tending to rotate, while Richie Reid was generally the one to slot in for Kilkenny.
'I think it was just a little bit cagey in the first half,' said Kilkenny boss Derek Lyng. 'Both teams had probably disappointing wides.
'What you put that down to, I'm not sure. A little bit of nerves or whatever, and just settling into the game.
'We finished that half strong. I think the goal was an important score for us, and gave us a bit of breathing room.
'We started the second half very well and we were strong for large parts of the second half, but obviously there was a spell there that we'd be disappointed with.
'We were performing very well for large parts of it and Galway got a bit of momentum then. They're top-class forwards and they picked off some very good scores.
'I suppose the (Concannon) goal, it was very disappointing how that happened and how we conceded that.
'That gave Galway a great lift and the momentum was with them. I thought our response was very positive. We got back into it, picked off a few scorers, and just settled back into the game.
'We probably made a few changes at that time and it just looked like we lost our shape for a few minutes, but overall, just pleased how we finished the game then.
'Today was about getting the result. The performance overall was decent, I thought. We know there's a lot of room for improvement.
'We go into a knockout phase. Everything ramps up. We have a few weeks that we're going to have to really utilise, work very hard, and get our heads down for the next step.'
Kilkenny have four weeks to prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final, that could well be against Limerick. That will focus minds.
They were very good for long spells here, and ultimately able to maintain a ferocious work rate for longer than Galway.
Their 15 misses - 11 of them wides - wasn't very Kilkenny like, compared to Galway's 10 misses - eight of them wides and three of those Mannion frees - while TJ Reid missed two dead balls.
Reid though was the gamebreaker, creating the first goal and finishing the second with a laser like shot as Kilkenny stamped their authority on the province once again.
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