Kilkenny surged straight into the NHL Division One semi-finals after beating their chief rivals Galway 1-19 to 0-18 at Nowlan Park this afternoon.
The Cats overhauled Galway at Division 1B’s summit but their third league win was far from easy.
Richie Power cracked over five first half points but Kilkenny were left with a 0-12 to 0-09 deficit to overcome for the second half – Eugene Cloonan (0-02) and David Collins hit three late scores for Galway.
The second half saw Cloonan opt to point a penalty and that decision proved costly when Power and Eddie Brennan played in Eoin McCormack for Kilkenny's goal.
Cloonan, who was Galway’s ten-point hero against Tipperary last Sunday, grabbed the game’s opening score this afternoon after only 11 seconds.
Backed by a strong wind, Ger Loughnane’s side, which lined out with Damien Healy and Tony Og Regan in midfield, meant business and added their second point through Fergal Healy.
But with Power and Tommy Walsh quickly replying, the Cats were back on terms at 0-04 apiece by the 16th-minute.
The sides continued to go point for point, with Michael Rice, Iarla Tannion, Martin Comerford and Alan Kerins adding their names to the scoresheet, before Galway’s late scoring burst, which included two overs from Cloonan, nudged them 0-12 to 0-09 ahead.
Power and Kevin Broderick exchanged points as the second half opened at a helter-skelter pace.
Broderick then won a penalty that could have put Galway 1-13 to 0-10 ahead, but following orders, Cloonan went for the point and almost inevitably, the game swung back in Kilkenny’s favour.
The Cats tagged on a point before McCormack lashed home his goal in the 45th-minute to bring the sides level again at 1-11 to 0-14.
The point of the game followed as defender Walsh thumped over an inspirational score from 80 yards out, much to the delight of the large home support.
Tennyson added a lengthy free and an Eddie Brennan point from 40 yards out pushed Brian Cody’s men into a 1-14 to 0-14 lead.
There seemed no way back for Galway as the Kilkenny defence shut up shop, limiting the visitors to long-range scores.
Mark Kerins and Damien Hayes combined to set up Alan Kerins for a point which reduced the margin to two points, but back came Kilkenny with Brennan rifling over sublimely from 70 yards out near the right touchline.
Cloonan took his tally to 0-07 with two more points and David Tierney also got in on the scoring act in injury-time, but Kilkenny looked all too comfortable as Derek Lyng finished out the scoring with two excellent points in injury-time.
