Cats left only the sour cream for Galway

By NOEL CARNEY Kilkenny ..2-20 Galway .1-14 KILKENNY hurling manager Brian Cody sent out a message to the hurling world that his team is in fine shape despite several retirements as the new season starts in earnest and they strolled to a comfortable win over a disappointing Galway side in the final of the Bord na Móna Walsh Cup in front of around 5,000 spectators at Pearse Stadium, Salthill last Sunday. Many of those present were there for the National Football League encounter with Louth which followed this game of course but the hurling fraternity got little to enthuse about as the clinical visitors laid the foundations for this win by storming into top gear from the throw-in and with only a quarter of an hour gone they were 1-7 to 0-2 ahead. [private] It was a nightmare scenario for Galway but to their credit they did gradually work their way back into contention as the game wore on and were only three points in arrears, 1-15 to 1-12, and performing reasonably well when goalkeeper James Skehill was dispossessed by sub Cillian Buckley as he went to clear an attack giving full-forward Eoin Larkin a simple goal that badly damaged the home team's morale after they had just notched four points in quick succession. Even though a quarter of an hour still remained the heart went out of Galway and they could only add two more points to their tally while Kilkenny tacked on five more to reach the impressive total of 2-20. The big question before last Sunday's game was whether Brian Cody would stick with his experimental squad that won their way into the final or whether he would opt for his strongest possible fifteen with the Allianz League only two weeks away. He chose the latter option more or less and then introduced Tommy Walsh, Michael Fennelly and Jackie Tyrrell from the subs bench. To be fair to Galway they were forced to line out without David Collins, Cyril Donnellan and Andy Smith (their full-back and both midfielders) from their published fifteen which did weaken their prospects. The wily Kilkenny supremo was also using the occasion to lay down a marker in case the sides should clash in the championship later in the year. They lost no time in doing so with the stylish and deadly accurate Richie Hogan bagging a real poacher's goal before many of the spectators had settled in their seats and a flurry of points followed with Richie Power driving over six frees, a 65 and, for good measure, two from play in a one-sided first half. Hogan also raised two white flags and others from John Mulhall and Colin Fennelly drove up the halfway total to a formidable 1-13. The Galway Management Troika of Anthony Cunningham, Tom Helebert and Mattie Kenny must have been very anxious after the opening quarter but they would have drawn some encouragement from the rest of the half as their charges finally began to come to grips with their opponents. The switch of Fergal Moore, who had an outstanding second half, with Tony Óg Regan helped significantly and the gap at the break was six points, 1-13 to 1-7. Joe Canning who lined out at left half-forward accounted for four of those points, all from frees, and he also provided the final pass for James Regan who took his goal chance well. The young St. Thomas's man also drove over a fine point and his club colleague David Burke weighed in with two from play. A fabulous pick, turn and strike by Joe Canning sailed over the bar from far out to give Galway a great start to the second period and he converted three placed balls in the third quarter. Young Conor Cooney got one from play at the end of a fine move that started with a super high catch in defence by Fergal Moore and despite points by Colin Fennelly and John Mulhall the gap had closed to three points, 1-15 to 1-12. The crowd were now getting behind Galway who had scored four times without reply but careless play by James Skehill who had earlier brought off a stunning save to deny Aidan Fogarty a goal saw him go from hero to villain as he lost possession and gifted a tap-in goal to Eoin Larkin. Suddenly the Galway resolve weakened, their challenge faded and Kilkenny cruised to a comfortable win. There were occasions when the winners looked awesome with wonderful stick-work, intelligent link play and great running off the ball. Clearly they will yet again be the team to beat and this young Galway team which finished the game with seven of last year's all-conquering All-Ireland winning under-21 players on the field have a lot to learn. Nevertheless they did show some fight to come back into contention after such a nerve-wracking start but they face a really tough League campaign that appears to have no easy game. Hopefully they can learn fast and rise to the occasion.   Galway: J. Skehill; D. Connolly, F. Moore, K. Hynes; B. Flaherty, T. Óg Regan, P. Huban; D. Burke (0-2), J. Coen; E. Ryan, I. Tannian, J. Canning (0-9, 8 frees); D. Hayes, C. Cooney (0-1), J. Regan (1-1). Subs: M. Lydon for Huban, N. Donoghue for Flaherty, J. Cooney for Coen, B. Burke (0-1) for Hayes, T. Haran for Ryan. Kilkenny: D. Herity; P. Murphy, J. J. Delaney, N. Hickey; P. Hogan (0-1, free), B. Hogan, C. Fogarty; L. Ryan, M. Rice; J. Mulhall (0-2), R. Power (0-11, eight frees, one 65), E. Larkin (1-1); C. Fennelly (0-2), R. Hogan (1-3), A. Fogarty. Subs: M. Fennelly for Ryan, J. Tyrrell for Murphy, T. Walsh for Rice, C. Buckley for C. Fennelly, W. Phelan for Hickey.   Referee: James McGrath (Westmeath). Herald Sport Man of the Match: Richie Power (Kilkenny). [/private]