Leinster title defence begins with Galway visit
BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship 2025
Round 1
Kilkenny vs Galway
UPMC Nowlan Park, Tomorrow @ 3:45pm
Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)
What a glorious stretch of weather to welcome the month of April. Tomorrow in UPMC Nowlan Park Kilkenny will try to weather the challenge posed by Galway in Round 1 of the 2025 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, and make no doubt about it, it’s a serious challenge. The Noresiders are embarking on another provincial campaign, bidding to make it a sixth consecutive triumph in the Bob O’Keeffe Cup, and this year’s competition could prove one of the most difficult to win.
Alongside the Cats, the other five challengers seeking Leinster honours are Antrim, Dublin, Wexford, Offaly and tomorrow’s opponents, Galway. It is Saturday’s opposition that many Gaels will feel are the most likely team to dethrone the reigning champions, and with their most recent All-Ireland winning manager back at the helm, there appears to be a lot more belief in the west. Micheál Donoghue’s return has brought this group closer together, after all, the Clarinbridge clubman is ‘one of their own’. Having succeeded ‘one of our own’ in the legendary Henry Shefflin, Donoghue is back for what he hopes will be an equally successful spell with the Tribesmen and one that all out west will want to end with another Liam MacCarthy in the bank.
Like Kilkenny, Galway’s Allianz League campaign was a bit of a mixed bag, but there’s no doubt that Donoghue seems to have sorted out some of the defensive issues the maroon-clad men have had over the past couple of seasons. While the Westerners conceded 26 more points than tomorrow’s hosts, the sides finished on the same number of points, but Galway’s win on Noreside HQ, proved to be the difference as they finished third in division 1A. With three wins and three defeats for each side, Saturday’s round 1 clash should be a closely fought affair. The league meeting in early February saw an intense battle, the travelling side emerging 3-point winners, having led by eight with twenty minutes remaining. The Cats found rhythm, hitting 1-7 in a 14-minute period to take the lead, but place balls efforts from Jason Flynn and a late score from captain, Conor Whelan saw the Tribesmen home.
Galway’s other wins in the league came against Wexford and Clare, while they finished on the wrong side of the result in games with Tipp, Limerick and Cork. In terms of scoring returns during their Allianz campaign, Evan Niland (0-16) and the experienced Conor Cooney (1-12) leading the attacking threat for their side. These two gents weren’t on their own in the attacking zone, one of the rising stars out west, Declan McLaughlin caught the eye, especially on his last visit to UPMC Nowlan Park, the Portumna man notching 2-2 and giving the Kilkenny rearguard plenty of problems, particularly, Mikey Butler; who had a difficult afternoon trying to cope with the movement and pace of McLaughlin. Another player that has seen some minutes in this season’s league is Anthony Burns, the Loughrea player finishing the league with a tally of 3-4. This year’s captain, Conor Whelan is a cracking player, who possesses that little bit of magic, similar to our own Eoin Cody. The Kinvara man is capable of putting in exceptional performances, and the Kilkenny defence will need to be on their toes tomorrow.
In midfield, an area that the Cats have struggled with in recent years, the Tribesmen look to have a formidable partnership in Cianan Fahy and Tom Monaghan, both men getting on the scoresheet during the league meeting. Monaghan in particular, has looked like a powerful weapon in the engine room, and isn’t shy about rifling efforts from distance. It will be interesting to see who Kilkenny manager picks for this vital sector, could it be Cian Kenny alongside Paddy Deegan, Peter McDonald with one of the former? Only time will tell.
In defence, Galway look to be getting tighter. Padraic Mannion, Veteran, Daithi Burke, Shane Morgan, Fintan Burke, Darren Morrissey and Gavin Lee all featuring for Micheál Donoghue’s side, while Jack Grealish and TJ Brennan will be pushing for selection. Between the sticks, Darach Fahy and the more experienced Eanna Murphy are vying for the keeper’s jersey, the Ardrahan man possibly seeing more league minutes.
While the Kilkenny midfield conundrum rumbles on, something that’s as certain as death and taxes is the likelihood of Eoin Murphy lining out in championship hurling for the Cats. The Glenmore man is one of a small number of players on the panel that has experience of lifting the big one, and the desire to end the ‘drought’ continues across Noreside. In front of the dependable stopper is likely to be a full-back line of O’Loughlin’s duo Mikey Butler and Huw Lawlor and Tullaroan’s Tommy Walsh. This would appear to be Derek Lyng’s preferred 2,3 and 4, while the half back line is largely settled, with David Bennettsbridge and Mikey Carey in line to take two of the three jerseys on offer. The third name is this line could be Paddy Deegan, Fionan Mackessy or another ‘link to Liam’, Richie Reid.
Both Deegan and Mackessy are extremely versatile, this can be a gift and a curse for players. The O’Loughlin’s clubmen can play in defence, midfield or the half forward line. I would imagine the in-house and challenge games have provided the Kilkenny management with the chance to run their eye over the various permutations away from prying eyes in the context of the league campaign. One player that came back into the fold late in the Allianz sponsored games was TJ Reid. The Shamrocks Ballyhale man is now in his 19th senior season with his beloved Kilkenny and clearly believes that he has plenty of offer the manager and the panel. Indeed, the placed ball specialist notched 0-23 in the league and will punish most opportunities that the opposition present to him. As is the tradition in the county, the senior championship winners nominate the players for the roles of vice and team captain. Thomastown’s picks were Peter McDonald and John Donnelly. While the former is trying to make his way in the senior stripes, the latter has been the standout player for the black and amber last season and now back from injury, will be keen to lead the side to a 6th consecutive provincial crown. The flame haired wing forward leaves everything on the field each time he crosses the white line and will hope to lead by example in 2025. He may not be a ‘shouter’ but Donnelly is definitely a ‘doer ‘and has been a regular scorer in recent seasons. This work rate and ability to trouble the scoreboard makes him an early name on the manager’s team sheet.
While tomorrow’s opponents had no player listed in the top ten scorers list during the league, the Marble City side had three names present, TJ, Eoin Cody and the standout player in black and amber this season, Martin Keoghan. This could be a pivotal year for the Tullaroan forward. Mossy was menacing in most games, terrorising defenders with pace and skill in equal measures as he finished his league campaign with a sparkling tally of 2-23. Some of his points were ridiculously good, especially the ones on the run, tight to the sideline. In the absence of TJ, placed ball duty fell to Eoin Cody who notched 1-23 during his appearances and the Shamrocks man will want to shine again during this year’s championship.
One name missing from the stripes this season to date has been another of the Ballyhale contingent, Adrian Mullen. The former All-Star is one of the classiest hurlers on the island, and his craft has been a big miss for the Noresiders. Hopefully the skillful stickman can feature during this Leinster campaign. The likes of Billy Ryan will hope to be in the starting XV tomorrow, while Galmoy’s Billy Drennan, Dicksboro’s Harry Shine and The Sash’s Gearoid Dunne will be pushing for minutes to catch the management team’s eye.
For now, it’s all about Galway, a little revenge for the league defeat, but more importantly starting the defence of their provincial title on the front foot. We’ll not worry about the Munster challengers yet, lets quieten the noise from the west and head to Corrigan Park with a win in the bag.
