Galway are V.S. hurling champions

Galway V.S. .0-12 Kilkenny V.S. .0-8 BARRY Keane's six-point haul helped Galway claim the All-Ireland Vocational Schools hurling title at windy Thomastown on Saturday. The flying half-forward's tally, four of which were scored in the second half, saw the wind assisted Tribesmen overturn a one point interval deficit (0-6 to 0-5). Scores were hard to come by over the hour but Dara Dolan (2) and Keane cancelled out a Conor Martin free as the Connacht side edged ahead (0-8 to 0-7) with 12 minutes remaining. [private] A fine scoring run left Kilkenny in control early on. Liam Hickey and Martin were to the fore, but they had no answer once Galway upped the tempo after the restart. Though only a point separated the sides inside the closing 10 minutes, two Keane frees and one from play by sub Brian Dolan consigned Kilkenny to defeat for the third successive year. Scorers for Galway: B Keane (0-6, four frees); D Dolan (0-3), B Dolan (0-2), D Burke (0-1, free). Kilkenny scorers: C Martin (0-5, four frees, one 65); S Donnelly (0-2), L Hickey (0-1).   Galway: P Whelan; P Prendergast, K Morrissey, T Broderick; T Jakeman, D Burke, P Kennedy; P Flanagan, E Kirwan; S Burke, D Dolan, B Keane; J Ryan, J Raftery, G Kelly. Subs., B Dolan for Kirwan, inj., 2 mins; R Ó Bearra for Kelly, 44 mins; D. Donoghue for Broderick, 46 mins; S. Flynn for Ryan, 60 mins.   Kilkenny: S Moriarty; J Meaney, T Moriarty, R McKenna; B Whelan, J Stanley, D O'Gorman; W Brennan, J Doyle; S Donnelly, C Martin, K Sweeney; J Kenny, M Russell, L Hickey. Sub., D. Cooke, for Russell, 44 mins. Referee: M. Wadding (Waterford). [/private]