All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship Final – Kilkenny 5-16 Clare 1-16

Kilkenny defeated Clare by 5-16 to 1-16 in the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship Final on Saturday August 6th at Semple Stadium Thurles.

REPORT: All Ireland IHC win for @KilkennyCLG against @GaaClare https://t.co/fLvYbxmX6K pic.twitter.com/uwjGJxaoCo

— The GAA (@officialgaa) August 6, 2016

All Ireland IHC Final: Kilkenny claim silverware

Kilkenny 5-16 Clare 1-16

By Eoin Brennan at Semple Stadium for GAA.ie

A physically dominant Kilkenny blitzed Clare with five goals to secure their first All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling title in six years in Semple Stadium this evening. In front of 1,401 the determined Cats banished previous final losses in 2011, ’12 and ’13 to reclaim the Michael Cusack Cup in style as they hit the Banner for four first half goals.

Clare had started well, moving 1-2 clear after 10 minutes thanks to a Ryan Taylor goal, but they would be sucker-punched for three goals inside six minutes, with Kilkenny’s full-forward line of Billy Ryan, Nicky Cleere and John Walsh all getting in on the goalscoring action before a fourth for Luke Scanlon ensured a 4-5 to 1-7 half-time advantage.

Clare fought back after the restart, mainly through captain Shane McGrath’s frees, but Kilkenny were always able to reply with Ryan and Walsh in particular causing the Banner huge problems.

Clare would get to within four points of their opponents, but despite being reduced to 14 men following a second yellow for Evan Cody in the 52nd minute, Kilkenny finished with aplomb, outscoring a flagging Banner by 1-6 to 0-1 including an injury-time goal for Walsh to garner the first adult hurling championship honours of the year.

Scorers for Kilkenny: J Walsh 2-2, B Ryan 1-4, N Cleere 1-4 (4fs), L Scanlon 1-2, A Murphy 0-2 (2fs), J Langton 0-1, S Morrissey 0-1.

Scorers for Clare: S McGrath 0-10 (8fs), K Hehir 0-3, R Taylor 1-0, J McCarthy 0-2, D Russell 0-1.

Kilkenny: A Duggan; E Cody, T Aylward, L Hickey; J Cleere, C Delaney, J Brennan; J Langton, L Scanlon; A Murphy, C Tobin, R Leahy; B Ryan, N Cleere, J Walsh
Subs: S Morrissey for Tobin (45), Jack McGrath for Leahy (54), S Donnelly for Murphy (60).Clare: D Vaughan; R Hayes, E Quirke, C Cooney; A McGuane, S Taylor, J McCarthy; D Conroy, K Hehir; O Donnellan, S McGrath, D Corry; D Russell, M O’Neill, R Taylor.

Clare: D Vaughan; R Hayes, E Quirke, C Cooney; A McGuane, S Taylor, J McCarthy; D Conroy, K Hehir; O Donnellan, S McGrath, D Corry; D Russell, M O’Neill, R Taylor
Subs: D Walsh for Taylor (2), E Enright for Hayes (HT), P O’Loughlin for Donnellan (40).

Referee: P O’Dwyer (Carlow)

Team News

Clare (IHC v Kilkenny): Daniel Vaughan; Rory Hayes, Eoin Quirke, Ciaran Cooney; Aidan McGuane, Shane Taylor, Jason McCarthy; David Conroy, Kevin Hehir; Oisin Donnellan, Shane McGrath, Daragh Corry; Danny Russell, Michael O’Neill, Ryan Taylor
Subs: Liam Doyle, Eoin Enright, Dara Walsh, Barry Fitzpatrick, Colin Burke, Pauric O’Loughlin, Colin Crehan, Micheal O’Shea, Cian Moloney

Kilkenny (IHC v Clare): Aaron Duggan; Evan Cody, Tom Aylward, Luke Hickey; Jason Cleere, Conor Delaney, Geoff Brennan; Jack Langton, Luke Scanlon; Alan Murphy, Conor Tobin, Richie Leahy; Billy Ryan, Nicky Cleere, John Walsh
Subs: Kevin Nolan, James Gannon, Enda Malone, Jack McGrath, Shane Murphy, Sean Morrissey, Shane Donnelly, Mark Aylward, Willie Brennan