Amount scored from play in Kilkenny senior final is hurling at its brilliant best

Niall McIntyre

What a half, what a game.

Six goals shared evenly. All from open play. It was end-to-end, there was skill in abundance, it was Dicksboro against James Stephens in the Kilkenny senior hurling final and it was a cracker of a game.

The youthful ‘Boro side went into the game as slight favourites, and the men in maroon got off to a flying start with their powerhouse corner forward Bill Sheahan plucking a skyscraper at the edge of the square, before netting a fine goal under pressure with just one minute on the clock.

The Village were quick to respond, and by the 11th minute, they were level, with former Kilkenny minor and under-21 star Luke Scanlon rifling a bullet shot to the net from his hurl, when the angle looked improbable as he ran away from the goals.

The Dicksboro goalkeeper didn’t even move such was the power of Scanlon’s shot.

Dicksboro’s lively half forward Oisin Gough soon hit back with two quickfire goals, each one only as good as the next, with the first finished expertly and awkwardly low to the goalkeepers right hand side, and the second struck with such ferocity, it prompted the umpire to jump out of its way.

Gough’s explosive cameo left the scoreline at 3-9 to 1-4 after 19 minutes, with Eoin Larkin, Jackie Tyrrell and their James Stephens teammates looking dead and buried facing a 12 point deficit.

That was on a normal day. There was something in the Nowlan Park air on Sunday that prompted every forward to think they were going to score.

Indeed, the game was moving at a lightening pace considering the time of the year, and the crispness of touch, and accuracy of striking was a joy to witness.

Less than five minutes later, and 25 minutes into the game, the men in green and red raised two more green flags, with both David Walton and Tadhg O’Dwyer displaying skill and coolness of nerve to finish from close range to put just five between the sides.

You can watch all those goals right here, and believe us, they really are worth the watch.

3-10 to 3-5 after just 25 minutes of play.

3-11 to 3-5 at half-time.

https://twitter.com/HurlingHotspot/status/924664277352493058

The second half began in a similar vein, with both sides hitting three-pointers within 15 minutes of the resumption, coming from the sticks of Matthew Ruth and Martin Gaffney.

That was 8 goals from play in just 45 minutes of action, with the Kilkenny crowd certainly getting their money’s worth.

In the end, the younger legs of Dicksboro won out, with centre back Cillian Buckley coming into his own in the second half, as Dicksboro captain Ollie Walsh lifted the Tom Walsh cup after a 4-10 to 4-15 victory.

Only nine of the game’s points came from frees. The sides managed 8-16 from play between them. That’s 40 points.