Henry Shefflin smashed Eddie Keher’s all-time scoring record as Kilkenny completed a 19-point drubbing of Dublin in the Leinster SHC semi-final.
Dublin were never far away in a first half that saw them compete point-for-point with the All-Ireland champions, but after the break Kilkenny stepped up a gear and put the game out of sight with ease.
Two late goals from substitute Aidan Fogarty made it a rout in the end, after Richie Power had netted to add to Eddie Brennan’s first-half strike.
Kilkenny had the ball in the net after just 45 seconds, Eddie Brennan giving them a dream start as he crashed the ball to the net from TJ Reid’s lay-off.
They eased into a 1-2 to 0-1 lead with Shefflin hitting a couple of points, but Dublin displayed grit and courage to play themselves back into the game.
Tomas Brady and Joey Boland led by example at the back and Alan McCrabbe provided the finishing power with a succession of converted frees.
Two of them came as a result of illegal hand-passes by Kilkenny defenders who got to grips with the new directive as the contest progressed.
When Boland drove over a long range score in the 16th minute just a point separated the sides, but as JackieTyrell and Tommy Walsh stamped their authority on proceedings at the back for the Cats, they opened out a four-point lead.
Shefflin drilled through two points from ‘65s, one of them a result of a superb double- save by Dublin goalkeeper Gary Maguire who denied Richie Power and Reid.
Another uplifting score from a Dublin defender - this time Maurice O’Brien splitting the posts from distance - raised Metropolitan hopes, but Shefflin and Reid responded to send the All-Ireland champions in with a 1-10 to 0-8 interval lead.
Peter Kelly steered over two Dublin points early in the second half to keep hope alive, but in the 49th minute Richie Power raced through to flick home the goal that effectively ended Dublin’s challenge.
Shefflin continued to hit the target, and Dublin’s attempts to drag themselves back into contention suffered a setback when Paul Ryan’s penalty was kept out by Noel Hickey.
As desperation grew, McCrabbe went for goal from a couple of 20 metre frees, but one was stopped by goalkeeper PJ Ryan and the other deflected out for a ’65 which John McCaffrey converted.
There was a certain inevitability about the manner in which Brian Cody’s side closed out the game.
Fogarty slotted an opportunist 63rd minute goal after Gary Maguire had saved from Shefflin and it was substitute Fogarty who sealed a big win with a brilliant solo goal three minutes from the end.
Kilkenny: PJ Ryan, J Dalton, N Hickey, J Tyrrell, T Walsh, B Hogan, JJ Delaney, M Rice (0-2), M Fennelly, M Comerford (0-1), R Hogan (0-1), H Shefflin (0-12, 8f, 2 ’65), E Brennan (1-1), TJ Reid (0-2), R Power (1-0).
Subs: E Larkin for Hogan, J Mulhall for Reid, A Fogarty (2-0) for Brennan, D Lyng for Power
Dublin: G Maguire, N Corcoran, T Brady, O Gough, S Hiney, J Boland (0-1), M O'Brien (0-1), J McCaffrey (0-1, ’65), S Durkin, S Lambert, P Kelly (0-2), L Rushe, D O'Callaghan (0-1), L Ryan, A McCrabbe (0-6, 6F)
Subs: P Ryan for Lambert, M Carton for O’Brien, D O’Dwyer for Durkin, D Treacy for O’Callaghan, K Flynn for L Ryan
Referee: D Kirwan (Cork)
