DESPITE losing Kilkenny’s Colin Fennelly to a red card in the second half, Leinster just kept Connacht at bay to set up an inter-provincial hurling final meeting with Munster.
In what was, in truth, a poor contest it was Leinster who started the better, as Ciarán Hetherton’s men raced into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead, with Wexford’s Lee Chin grabbing the goal. It took until the 13th minute before Conor Cooney opened the scoring for a
Connacht side comprised entirely of Galway players. At half-time Leinster led 1-7 to 1-2, with Connacht’s goal coming from Joseph Cooney. It was a half in which, although there had been a few good goal chances, there were more wides registered than scores.
Indeed, at the conclusion, between them, the two teams struck 28 wides in total in front of a paltry crowd in Nenagh.
The sides were level at 1-8 apiece when Fennelly walked following an incident with Paul Killeen, but with Chin in fine form, Leinster responded well and substitutes Ryan O’Dwyer, Gerry Keegan and Martin Kavanagh, all got their names on the scoreboard.
