Kilkenny looked a beaten docket at half-time.
They looked a beaten docket ten minutes into the second half. You don’t know anything about hurling, however and you don’t know anything about this Kilkenny team or these Kilkenny giants if you ever consider them a beaten docket.
But after the clock struck 38 minutes in Nowlan Park on Saturday evening, you’d be lying if you said you didn’t worry for them. Wexford were motoring, their dander was up and they held a nine point cushion over the cats.
For them, Lee Chin was a colossus, Rory O’Connor was ripping up trees and David Dunne was having a field day.
Then, when TJ Reid drove a free wide from straight in front of the goals and only 50 metres out, it just looked like it was going to be Wexford’s day.
But it takes something special to rattle Kilkenny, it takes more to rattle them than it does any other team. And just like that, they began to claw their way back into this one.
The Ballyhale Shamrocks sharpshooter regained composure and he settled himself back into the game. He tacked on a few tidy frees and suddenly the momentum, and the crowd were on their side.
With big men Colin Fennelly and Richie Hogan called ashore at half-time, Brian Cody, typically, didn’t shy away from the hard calls. Replacements Richie Leahy and Joey Holden made all the difference, scoring three points between them in just another example of Brian Cody’s wielding the axe to wonderful affect.
Leahy, in particular caught the eye. An extremely stylish hurler, he plucked balls from the sky, he set up a couple of scores, he raised two white flags himself but he was the man who set the tone for this comeback in the second half with his ferocious drive and work rate.
He marauded up, down and all around the field, hoovering up loose ball and always treating it like he cared for it.
His first score was instinctive, it was class and it came at a crucial time in this comeback.
His second was something special down along the sideline.
Video credit: @OfficialGAA Twitter.
Typically, it was the old dogs for the hard road who stood up for Kilkenny. Padraig Walsh caught a few amazing balls that wrestled the momentum back from the Yellow Bellies, TJ Reid got on the ball more times than anyone else and he pulled the strings to destructive effect.
Paul Murphy was also strong when the stakes were at their highest and Enda Morrissey fared well too. In a stark contrast, Wexford’s big men faded at the crucial time. Lee Chin, who had been on fire early on, was invisible in the second.
It was all about that man Leahy, though, and he’ll surely be pushing for a Leinster final start now.
In the end, they ran out 0-22 to 1-18 winners. That’s what Kilkenny do.
