Dublin challenge fizzles out

Leinster Under-21 HC Final: Kilkenny 0-12... Dublin 1-4 It was no evening for hurling history at Dr Cullen Park. A warm day had turned overcast and relentless drizzle softened the unmarked pitch, writes Seán Moran.

It presented a bleak picture of high summer, an unseasonal promotion for the sponsors, Erin.

In the end Kilkenny duly added the Leinster under-21 title to all the other provincial titles, which the county has already annexed.

Dublin's expectant challenge sustained the game until the very end before a small crowd but the valiant battle against hurling's rigid caste foundered on the very things that we expect of such matches. Like scoring only a point throughout the second half despite good chances.

It was there, most would have felt, for Dublin but within sight of a famous victory, 31 years to the day since the county's previous Leinster under-21 title, they seemed to lose the conviction that had brought their challenge so close to the favourites.

A succession of missed chances kept Kilkenny in the hunt at a stage when they were under pressure and in keeping with the age-old script they got Dublin in their cross-hairs during the final few minutes and rapidly fired the points that gave them a comfortable winning margin.

By the end Dublin had scored only two points from play.

And yet at half-time Dublin looked to have torn up that script. They were level, 1-3 to 0-6, despite being under the hammer for most of the first half.

Normally the Dublins of the world establish the early, commanding lead and then lose it to a freakish act of malicious nature.

In this case Kilkenny's smooth authority for the first 25 minutes of the match had steadily built a 0-5 to 0-1 lead.

Dublin looked jittery at the back - with the exception of a confident performance by Gary Maguire in goal - and Kilkenny were sharper to the ball. Willie O'Dwyer and Aidan Fogarty would again produce that sharpness when it was most needed.

Dublin's attack was making little impact with senior players Conal Keaney and Michael Carton struggling to get into the match.

In the 25th minute things changed. Keaney's line ball popped out of Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herrity's hand and into the net. Within seconds Carton - now at centre forward - shot a glorious point after a run down the right. The sides were level.

If there was an ominous moment it was Keaney's missed free a couple of minutes before the break. It cost Dublin an interval lead and was the precursor of worse to follow.

Keaney is Dublin's elite player and a crucial factor in the under-21s getting this far but yesterday was a nightmare. At odds with his striking he couldn't convert a host of chances in the second half as his team's challenge evaporated for want of scores.

If Dublin nearly won the match in the minutes before the break, they lost in the third quarter. With the backs defending magnificently, Simon Daly and Derek O'Reilly in particular, the momentum was with them.

But the scores wouldn't come. After a promising start David O'Callaghan couldn't make an impact on Canice Hickey - the latest of his family's apparently genetically coded full backs.

Still clinging to their one-point advantage 0-8 to 1-4 Kilkenny realised that it was time to move.

Fogarty and O'Dwyer hit the points that effectively killed Dublin and replacement Seán O'Neill banged over two more to be on the safe side.

KILKENNY: D Herrity; M Phelan, C Hickey, G Joyce; K Coogan (0-2, both frees), J Tyrell, JJ Delaney; M Rice, T Walsh (0-1); W O'Dwyer (0-2), P Cleere, C Phelan (0-1); B Dowling, S Hennessy (0-1, a free), A Fogarty (0-3). Subs: O McCormack for Dowling (44 mins), S O'Neill (0-2) for Hennessy (0-1, a free), C O'Neill for Rice (63 mins).

DUBLIN: G Maguire; K Elliot, S Daly, P Brennan; D O'Reilly, S Hiney, C O'Brien; R Fallon, S McCann; C Keaney (1-2, goal from sideline, points frees), P Fleury, M Carton (0-1); S O'Neill, D O'Callaghan, F Chambers. Subs: S O'Connor for Chambers (45 mins), T Sweeney for O'Neill (64 mins.

Referee: J Kelly (Wexford).