Kilkenny GAA Thread

Lots of positives in that half. Pity about Mullen and particularly Murphy after finally nailing a place on the team. Cody grew into it and Mackessey settling into this level. Molloy very busy along with Billy Ryan. Looks a decent structure to our play

Going alright so far. Molloy and Kenny have done well and Billy Ryan has hit some good scores. We've mixed a running and direct game, some aimless passes in particular during the middle of the half but at least it is not too predictable.

Losing Mullen and Murphy early is a blow as it limits our sub options in the 2nd half. Mullen's injury was dealt with farcical tbh, he spent ages off the pitch getting treated with us down to 14 and then when he came back on looking immediately unable to run, he was left on for another 4 or 5 minutes. He should have been taken off much quicker and probably should never have been sent back on the pitch.

Good win, hard to fathom how poor Galway are when they had such talent underage for 4/5 years that should be starting to come into their prime now

I knew Galway were bad but that was disgraceful, no fight, no pace , no threat. They have no chance of getting out of Leinster. Looking back Henry did well. They were a disgrace.

Kilkenny went through the motions and won pulling up.

Decent performance from kk

The injuries are a big concern going forward

Galway were awful

Did anyone see what happened between cooney and butler ?

Loughrea were worthy county champions and were a whisker away from beating Na Fianna, who won the final pulling up. Whatever other stick you use to beat Galway hurling with, picking on Loughrea is the wrong one.

Bar the injuries we have to be happy with how that went even if Galway were septic. Butler and Lawlor were rock solid with Galway not getting a sniff of a goal chance. Halfback line solid for the most part with Carey getting two nice points. Midfield were both excellent, both Kenny and Molloy well suited to a running game and both hit some good scores.

Billy Ryan was very good in the 1st half and got through a lot of work, John Donnelly hadn't his best game ever but got a nice score at the end of the 1st half and put in the effort. His brother had a fine game when he game on and with a bit more conviction and confidence could have had a goal. Mackeassy was very good, he hit some fine scores and won some decent ball. Well able for the running game also, however he does foul a lot which we won't always get away with. Cody took his goal brilliantly and had a good game in general. Mossy was frustrating in that although he scored 1-02 he should have had at least 2 or 3 more scores but he kept slipping. He needs better boots for softer ground.

Shame about the injuries to Mullen, Murphy and Blanchfield. Murphy's looked very nasty I'd be surprised if he's fit for a good while. I said my piece on Mullen's injury and treatment earlier so hopefully he won't be out long. Blanchfield's substitution was hopefully precautionary, he had been playing fairly well and much more restrained to some of his recent performances which was probably needed.

As has been said Galway were terribly poor and they'll struggle to get out of Leinster if they throw performances like that in against Dublin or Wexford. But we can only beat what is put in front of us and we did that nicely.

Dublin left it late to beat Offaly. It’ll be interesting to see highlights and analysis to find out how the game went. Despite Offaly’s recent improvement, you’d have to think it’s still a bit early for them to really challenge for Leinster. Dublin have the ability to mix to good with the bad. Really we should be handling both teams without issue if we’re challenging for Liam this year

Very good win with the obvious caveat of how poor Galway were. It looked from an early stage we were the far better team and only Galway's accuracy kept them in it in the 1st half. Galway looked all over the shop other than that early spell but credit goes to Derek and the lads for the workrate and positivity we showed. Richie Reid was top class as were all of our backs and midfield, particularly Jordan Molloy. Billy Ryan excellent in 1st half but needs to address this habit he has of going completely out of games in the 2nd period. Great to see Eoin Cody finish well also. Only blemishes were the injuries. Hopefully Mullens is minor and at least is not the same issue, but you'd fear for Shane Murphy which is a real shame given how well he was playing. 

The atmosphere was really, really unusual. So flat and quiet and I felt Galway supporters were apprehensive from the very start. Very strange. 3 big games coming, would be nice to be in a Leinster final before the last round. 

Did what we had to do against a poor team.hope our injuries clear up .

Kk eventually now know how to play the modern game and they look good against albeit a v poor Galway outfit. The strength indept impresses.

That's a fair point about conditioning and fitness. We seemed the get stronger the more the game went on yesterday whereas last year our Achilles heel was fading out of games in 2nd half. Hopefully something that has been addressed.

Have to agree with you Village. I thought Billy Ryan was excellent yesterday a hard worker and his confidence is growing.

KK played Galway U20’s yesterday which ended in a draw,at half time Galway were winning by 13 pts. Liam Hogan never missed a free,Sean Hunt was good as was Evan Murphy. Cork bet KK U20’s on Good Friday by two points.

As a Galway man, this "thinking" from people outside of the county sort of annoys me. Many of those minor wins were 1 or 2 games to win the All-Ireland (during covid etc). It's like the old days of Galway getting to an All-Ireland semi final by default.

The real issue, imo, is our pathetic record at u20/21 etc. We haven't won an All-Ireland at the grade since 2011. The kind of mess that Galwat served up yesterday will keep happening as a legacy of our frao record at the u20 grade. Minor is, now, a kids grade and bears absolutely no relevance, imo, to senior prospects etc. That's what I find annoying about people saying thar Galway having so much underage talent etc. It's essentially winning kids competitions..

As regards yesterday, Kilkenny seemed to be playing the modern running type game and played it well. Obviously, very deserving of the win, and, imo, probably win leinster. After that, who knows. Definitely "dark horses" for the All-Ireland, but, honestly, not favourites for it (Limerick or Cork, for me, tbh). But, if I was a Kilkenny man, I would read very little into yesterday's match as Galway were as bad as I've seen them in decades.