It would be wrong to suggest that buried deep within the battle code of Kilkenny hurling is an oath ‘that thou shall never surrender’. Because the Cats have never concealed that mantra. It is the creed by which they hurl.
The players and teams of the Brian Cody era cemented that reputation during a period of unprecedented success. Post-Cody, it was always going to be difficult to match those riches in terms of silverware. And so it continues to be.
Derek Lyng has done a very decent job in terms of keeping Kilkenny hovering around the top table, but the search for another Liam MacCarthy has remained elusive. Still, they have largely been getting on with getting on.
Until Saturday in Salthill. Their display, or lack thereof, will have alarm bells ringing from Tullaroan to Thomastown. Galway ran up 35 points as they hammered Kilkenny by 18.
READ MORE
The 0-35 to 0-17 scoreline represents Kilkenny’s heaviest league loss since the 1952/53 campaign when Wexford beat them by 26 points. It’s their biggest reverse in league or championship since 1954.
On Saturday at Pearse Stadium, Kilkenny retained just 26 of their 43 puckouts. They created just 25 scoring chances compared to Galway’s 47.
But of most concern to Lyng and Kilkenny fans will be the manner in which the team limped towards the final whistle, those in black and amber having long since waved that unfamiliar white flag of surrender.
Speaking to RTÉ on Sunday evening, Anthony Daly remarked: “I’m a massive Kilkenny fan, I’ve always been an admirer of everything they bring, but I saw fellas giving up near the end of that game.
“They wanted to get on the bus and get out of there. I don’t associate that (with Kilkenny).”
On the same weekend a decade ago, Kilkenny hosted Galway in a league match in Nowlan Park. The previous September the Cats had beaten the Tribesmen in the 2015 All-Ireland final. Galway arrived to the Marble City the following February keen to make a statement.
But the only time Galway led in that contest was in opening two minutes. TJ Reid sent over 14 points with Richie Hogan, Conor Fogarty and Colin Fennelly also doing their part to help the Cats to a four-point victory.
TJ and Richie Reid are the only Kilkenny players left from that league game in 2016. Lyng has been trying to maintain a standard while losing a dressingroom of generational players.
But in the aftermath of Saturday’s game, he didn’t try to dress up the performance.
“We have to be honest with ourselves, that was unacceptable. Everybody in there [the dressingroom] knows that,” he said.
“I didn’t think we had enough energy at all, way too passive. I’m responsible for that, and it wasn’t good enough.”
Lyng has used 33 players so far during the league, with 28 of those starting at least one game. Only five – Mikey Carey, Darragh Corcoran, Jordan Molloy, Eoin Cody and Martin Keoghan – have started all five fixtures.
Lyng made five changes from Kilkenny’s opening-round win over Offaly to their second-round defeat against Limerick, and there have been personnel changes every outing since.
Kilkenny’s goalkeeping situation is particularly interesting as Aidan Tallis has now started four of the five games with four-time All Star Eoin Murphy featuring only in the victory over Waterford. Murphy is generally regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, but Tallis appears to be holding the number one jersey for now.
The absence of Huw Lawlor at full back is also an immeasurable loss and Kilkenny could certainly do with the O’Loughlin Gaels man returning from his travels, sooner rather than later. Mikey Carey has been filling the void left at 15 but he was forced off with a hamstring injury at the weekend, creating fresh doubts around a critical position.
The spine of the Kilkenny team just doesn’t seem obvious right now, with the possibility of further chopping and changing in those key roles still likely.
Will TJ Reid now be lining out for what is likely to be a relegation decider against Tipperary? The Cats need both Reid and Adrian Mullen back leading the attack. Take out the contributions of Eoin Cody and Cian Kenny, and the Cats have been extremely score-shy this season.
Outside of Offaly, Kilkenny are the lowest-scoring team in Division 1A. They have also conceded more than any other team, apart from Offaly. So, by all metrics they are where they deserve to be right now – occupying the division’s second relegation spot.
All is not lost, of course. A trip to Thurles for their final game, possibly with their top-flight status on the line, might just be the spark to light the flame. Depending on how the refixed Waterford-Tipperary games goes, Kilkenny’s place in Division 1A will be in the balance entering that showdown in two weeks’ time.
A photo gained traction online several years ago showing dozens of hurls resting against a church wall as the students of St Kieran’s College were inside attending Mass. Hurling, the true religion of Kilkenny, and all that.
On Saturday afternoon, a couple of hours before the Kilkenny senior hurlers wilted in Salthill, the hurlers of St Kieran’s College staged a quite sensational comeback to beat Nenagh CBS in their All-Ireland post-primary school semi-final in Rathdowney.
St Kieran’s scored 1-5 coming down the stretch, including a winning goal in injury time from Dan Carroll to book their place in the All-Ireland final. It was, and always has been, the Kilkenny way.
But some fundamental questions are now being asked of the county’s senior stock.
Their year will ultimately be framed by what happens in the championship, but there is little doubt that Saturday’s collapse has initiated an early-season judgment day is on the horizon.
And does anybody really expect Kilkenny to take a knee in Thurles?
