Leinster 1-14 Connacht 1-12
Leinster lost Kilkenny star Colin Fennelly to a red card but still managed to fend off the challenge of Connacht in this afternoon’s Inter-provincial hurling semi-final clash in Nenagh.
Fennelly walked following an off-the-ball clash with Paul Killeen midway through the second half and while the scores were tied at the time – 1-08 apiece – Ciarán Hetherton’s Leinster still kicked on for victory.
Wexford star Lee Chin was on fire for Leinster, collecting 1-04 from play, as Hetherton’s charges set up a final clash with Munster or Ulster
The apathy surrounding a tournament that failed to go ahead last year was starkly illustrated by the dismal attendance present at MacDonagh Park in Nenagh, estimated at less than 100 people, as a repeat of the 2014 final was served up.
And the fare in the first half rarely rose above the mundane, with Leinster 1-07 to 1-02 ahead at half-time.
Indeed, there were more wides than scores before the break, Leinster registering nine to Connacht’s seven.
When the dust settled, the sides had racked up as many wides as scores between them – 28.
REPORT: @gaaleinster defeat @ConnachtGAA in Inter-provincial Hurling Semi-Finalhttps://t.co/Wiqft27nR1 pic.twitter.com/syMjusmULn
— The GAA (@officialgaa) December 10, 2016
There were some decent goal chances at both ends that either flashed wide or ended up in the side-netting but two green flags were raised in the first half.
The first of them was the opening score of the game – Chin taking a pass from Fennelly before crashing a fine shot past James Skehill in the fifth minute.
Leinster were five points clear – 1-02 to 0-00 – before a Connacht team comprised of all Galway players opened its account in the 13th minute, Conor Cooney on target with a free.
Five minutes later, Joseph Cooney poked home a goal for Connacht to keep them in contention but Leinster hit four of the five points approaching half-time to open up a significant interval lead.
Connacht battled back to level and looked good for victory when Leinster went down to 14 men.
But with Chin excellent, Leinster pushed on for the win as subs Ryan O’Dwyer, Gerry Keegan and Martin Kavanagh, with the final point of the game at the death, made contributions to the scoreboard.
There was a lengthy stoppage at the end of the game when O’Dwyer and Matthew Keating collided but after almost ten minutes of stoppage time was played, Leinster held out, Carlow ace Kavanagh firing over the insurance score.
Leinster: J Dempsey (Offaly); M Whelan (Laois), T Doyle (Westmeath), L Ryan (Wexford); P Walsh (Kilkenny), K Joyce (Kilkenny), C Crummey (Dublin) (0-01); C Fogarty (Kilkenny), S Ryan (Offaly) (0-01); W Walsh (Kilkenny) (0-01), L Chin (Wexford) (1-04), C Dwyer (Laois); S Dooley (Offaly) (0-03f), E Dillon (Dublin), C Fennelly (Kilkenny) (0-01).
Subs: R O’Dwyer (Dublin) (0-01) for Dillon (h.t.), G Keegan (Kildare) (0-01) for Dwyer (38), M Kavanagh (Carlow) (0-01) for Dooley (38), D Murphy (Carlow) for O’Dwyer (60).
Connacht (Galway unless stated): J Skehill (0-01f); M Donohue, P Killeen, J Hanbury; G McInerney, P Mannion, M Conneely; J Coen, D Burke (0-01); S Maloney, J Cooney (1-00), C Cooney (0-03f); B Molloy, C Mannion (0-01), J Flynn (0-01 sl).
Subs: N Burke (0-03f, 1f) for Molloy (39), D Glennon for Flynn (39), A Harte (0-01)for Coen (40), C Freeman (Mayo) for C Cooney (44), P Brehony for Donohue (47), P Flaherty (0-01) for Killeen (50), M Keating for D Burke (55), J Kilkenny (Roscommon) for McInerney (57), C Dolan (Roscommon) for Maloney (57), S McInerney for Keating (60).
