Waterford no match for two-goal Kilkenny at Nowlan Park via IrishTimesSport
It’s hard enough to take on Kilkenny in Nowlan Park without an imbalance in the respective motivation levels. Brian Cody’s team needed to win whereas Waterford’s progress was under threat only from circumstances marginally less likely than an alien spaceship falling on them.
Two goals, one in either half, proved the substance of the victory, which sent Brian Cody’s team to the top of Allianz Hurling League Division 1B and into next weekend’s semi-final - a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland meeting at the same stage with Cork. By this point Waterford were in the ascendancy, moving the ball slickly and taking good scores. Five of them had scored from play by half-time but they trailed 0-11 to 1-10.
The visitors were lining up without the league’s top scorer Stephen Bennett, who was unwell but Hutchinson and Pauric Mahony made first starts since their club Ballygunner’s historic All-Ireland. Earlier attempts to rein in the deficit came unstuck in slightly unfortunate circumstances in the 47th minute. Pádraig Walsh had a point in his sights when an excellent hook by Carthach Daly spilled the ball. It fell for Ryan and enough space opened up for him to scoot in and score the second goal, removing any lingering mystery about the outcome.
“Once the game is on it is off you go. It is brilliant preparation for the Leinster championship. It goes beyond that too. There are two competitions you try to win each year, the league and the championship.”
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