February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Jack Flynn
Kilkenny 3-10, Waterford 2-10
Kilkenny used two second-half goals from full forward Brian Barcoe to pull out a hard-fought win over a tough Waterford team, 3-10 to 2-10, in the Senior Hurling contest at Gaelic Park Sunday.
“We expected them to give us a good game and it turned out to be a good hour,” said Kilkenny’s Ritchie Hogan, who played well for the black and amber. “We showed good spirit.”
The match was marred by a melee with no time left on the clock, which went on for several minutes, boasted five separate flare-ups and resulted in the sending off of four hurlers, two on each side.
“It wasn’t’ a great team performance, but a win is a win,” Hogan said.
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Play stayed very even for most of the match, as both Kilkenny and Waterford took turns holding the lead. Kevin Corbett was a scoring star early, but his two points were matched by Waterford’s Mike Molomphey and Keith Hennessey.
Waterford had the better of chances early, as Kilkenny keeper James Joyce was twice forced to knock down point tries by midfielder Ollie O’Neill. Vinnie Norton was also strong on the Kilkenny defensive front, keeping Waterford attackers at bay.
Kilkenny’s Luke Doyle and Jerome Edge swapped points with Waterford’s Jason Lawlor and O’Neill to keep the score knotted at 0-4 to 0-4. Then, a Waterford defensive breakdown led to the first goal of the afternoon.
A long pass off the stick of a Kilkenny hurler was never properly cleared and Corbett ended up whacking it home on the ensuing scramble to make the score 1-4 to 0-4.
History almost repeated itself minutes later, but this time Waterford keeper Kevin Martin cleared his zone before an enterprising Kilkenny attacker could score a second goal. Edge had a third consecutive goal chance for Kilkenny, but his ball went wide to Martin’s left.
Waterford began the second half down 1-4 to 0-6, but points from O’Neill and Sean Fitch gave them the lead.
Kilkenny answered in grand fashion, notching two points before Barcoe leaped high over Waterford’s Richie Powell to snare a long pass off a teammate’s stick and slam a goal past an unlucky Martin.
Suddenly, Kilkenny had a 2-6 to 0-8 advantage and seemed to be in control. But Waterford battled back yet again. Points by Ray Duggan and John Whelan hookended a fine goal from Lawlor that tied the score at 2-7 to 1-10.
Finally, Kilkenny reached back and were able to claim the killing blow. Three points from Corbett and one from Doyle preceded Barcoe’s second goal on the day and Kilkenny had the match firmly in hand.
Fitch added a late goal with the clock shut off to pull Waterford within three points, but they could get no closer.
The brawl, which began after Joyce was knocked to the ground in a Waterford scramble, provided a poor and vulgar ending to an otherwise brilliant match.
Kilkenny scorers: Barcoe 2-1, Corbett 1-5, Doyle 0-2, Edge and Ryan 0-1.
Waterford: Lawlor 1-1, Fitch 1-2, O’Neill 0-2, Molomphey, Hennessey, Murphy, Duggan and Whelan 0-1.