Leinster Senior Hurling Championship round five
Wexford 4-23 Kilkenny 5-18
WEXFORD saved their Liam MacCarthy status with a win in a thrilling encounter against Kilkenny yesterday afternoon.
The Cats weren’t certain of a place in the Leinster final entering the final round robin game at Wexford Park, while the Yellowbellies knew they needed a result to be sure of avoiding the drop to Joe McDonagh hurling for 2024.
Although a brace of Liam Óg McGovern goals helped Wexford build a 4-13 to 2-12 advantage going into the home strait, their relegation fears resurfaced with less than 10 minutes to go as Eoin Cody and Tom Phelan fired Kilkenny back in front, 5-17 to 4-18.
The Model county dug deep, however, and Diarmuid O’Keeffe, who excelled in the quarter-back role, reeled off a string of late points to save Wexford’s bacon.
Defeat didn't prove disastrous for Kilkenny as Dublin’s failure to beat Galway handed the Cats a Leinster final spot.
Dublin 2-22 Galway 1-25
GALWAY battled back from 12 points down at Croke Park to salvage a draw and book their place in the Leinster final for the second year running.
Goals from Cian O’Sullivan and Danny Sutcliffe helped the Dubs into a commanding 2-16 to 0-12 lead at half-time, while the points of Donal Burke and Cian Boland made it a double score gap within five minutes of the restart.
However, Henry Shefflin’s side eventually got themselves going, with Daithí Burke kickstarting the comeback after Dublin goalkeeper Sean Brennan had denied Conor Cooney from the spot.
Evan Niland kept chipping away at the Dublin lead and his 10th point in the fifth minute of injury-time finally put Galway in front. However, Burke wasn’t done for the Dubs and he ensured that, while Micheál Donoghue’s charges left a Leinster final place behind them, they don’t have a defeat to shake off going into the All-Ireland series.
