Kilkenny 1-21
Dublin 2-16
Kilkenny have advanced to the O’Neills.com Leinster U20 Hurling Championship following a two-point defeat of Dublin in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday afternoon.
The result means both counties advance to the final-four with Wexford and Galway finishing in the bottom two positions of the four-team group.
Dublin were the superior side in the first half as a Jamie Conroy goal along with some fine points from Diarmaid O Dulaing and Ollie Gaffney gave them a healthy lead.
Scores from Billy Reid and Gearoid Dunne kept Mark Dowling’s side within touching distance of the visitors before a Ted Dunne goal following an effort from Cillian Hackett that hit the crossbar who made no mistake with the finish to make it Kilkenny 1-06 to 1-08 Dublin as the game approached half-time.
Points from Cillian Doyle and Hackett brought the hosts level at the break, to the bemusement of the majority in attendance, 1-09 to 1-09.
The home team improved in the second half and early points from Gearoid Dunne, Cathal Beirne and Joe Fitzpatrick moved Kilkenny into the lead for the first time.
While O Dulaing continued to torment the Kilkenny full-back line, scores from Harry Shine, captain Luke Connellan, Denis Walsh and Eoin Lyng sealed a superb result for the Cats.
