Leinster SHC final: Unflappable Kilkenny can contain the Galway bounce-back

Leinster GAA SHC final

Kilkenny v Galway, Croke Park, Sunday 4pm

Are Galway becoming a bit like the three-card trick merchants? Every year is the one that’s going to be different. Honest. It has been some resurrection for Micheál Donoghue’s team to proceed from the vacuous display in Nowlan Park seven weeks ago to being quietly reinstated as contenders for this weekend.

Kilkenny in Leinster finals have been a constant source of grief for the westerners since they moved into the province. One win in eight is the running total, allowing that in 2018 the first match was a draw and they eventually won after a replay.

Nearly all of those were comprehensive defeats or spectacular self-infliction, like 2020 and 2023.

There is, however, some logic to the Galway revisions. They caned a Dublin team that Kilkenny had laboured to put away and even if the Dubs were unfathomably poor two weeks ago, their opponents’ vigilant pressing and tactical nous were influential in forcing that.

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Goals are again an issue, in that of the six teams in the Leinster round robin, only Antrim managed fewer green flags than Galway but no side has hit more points. Of course, when Donoghue guided the county to the 2017 All-Ireland, they notably scored no goals in four of their five championship matches.

This, predictably, isn’t a concern for their opponents, who with 15 have top-scored in championship goals to date. The team hasn’t been tweaked much, let alone overhauled, but Derek Lyng continues to get the most out of them. Injuries have stalked selections and Eoin Cody is missing again with hamstring trouble but TJ Reid perseveres and has bagged 4-22 in the last three matches, 3-2 from play.

There was the now traditional reverse against Wexford on the last day but that was a dead rubber from Kilkenny’s perspective. For that match, Lyng ran an experiment of Adrian Mullen at centre back. It may have been whimsy but presumably there was some level of curiosity as to how the unusual placing of an All Star front eight player would fare and how sustainable the attack might be in his absence.

The challenge for Galway is how dependable their opponents are. Kilkenny are on a six-in-a-row in Leinster despite having hardly impacted on the All-Ireland championship during that time. They will turn up and play to a guaranteed level.

[ Galway’s Cathal Mannion only too aware of Kilkenny’s extra-time threatOpens in new window ]

They will be more attentive in marking Galway’s players and not leaving the gaps that Dublin did nor yielding the same stream of turnovers. David Burke had an excellent match in Parnell Park and his distribution will be a key factor for them.

Donoghue has a good record in Leinster finals, having won two titles in three years during his first tenure. They will press hard and in the repurposed Conor Whelan and the prolific Cathal Mannion they have All Star quality forwards in form.

Kilkenny’s consistency and application, however, look more persuasive.

Verdict: Kilkenny

Kilkenny: E. Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; M Carey, R Reid, P Deegan; C Kenny, J Molloy; J Donnelly, A Mullen, B Ryan; S Donnelly, TJ Reid, M Keoghan. Subs: A Tallis, P Moylan, D Blanchfield, S Murphy, K Doyle, Z Bay Hammond, F Mackessy, H Shine, L Hogan, L Connellan, M Murphy.

Galway: E Murphy; P Mannion, Daithí Burke, F Burke; C Fahy, G Lee, TJ Brennan; S Linnane, David Burke; J Fleming, C Mannion, T Monaghan; C Whelan, B Concannon, K Cooney. Subs: D Walsh, D Morrissey, J Grealish, J Ryan, D Loftus, R Glennon, C Cooney, T Killeen, A Burns, C Molloy, J Flynn.