Saturday brought with it four Kilkenny teams involved in different Leinster championship competitions.
In the Leinster Junior Hurling Championship, Blacks and Whites advanced to the semi-final following a 2-20 to 0-17 win against Westmeath side Ringtown.
Eddie Scally’s county champions struggled to get to the grips with the home side’s intensity throughout a whirlwind 60 minutes that saw a close encounter head to extra-time.
It was in that period that the visitors took control with two crucial goals along with a cluster of points seeing them advance to the last-four.
Their semi-final opponents will be Dublin outfit Commercials who were 1-17 to 0-10 victors over Mountmellick.
That game will take place in a Kilkenny venue on Saturday, November 26th.
While Blacks and Whites have at least one more clash to look forward to, Danesfort must make do with their county championship crown as they were eliminated from the Leinster Intermediate Hurling Championship at the quarter-final stage.
Meath club Trim came away from UPMC Nowlan Park with a 0-16 to 0-15 win following an interesting affair in the home of Kilkenny GAA.
Thomastown’s hopes of taking part in the Leinster Senior Camogie Championship decider have been dashed as they fell to St Vincent’s in a one-sided semi-final that finished 5-11 to 1-11 in favour of the Dublin county champions.
Egged on by Kilkenny legend Aidan ‘Taggy’ Fogarty, a member of St Vincent’s backroom team, the hosts proved too strong for Ger Walsh’s team as Thomastown failed to match the firepower of their opponents forward line.
Meanwhile in the Leinster Junior Ladies Football Championship, Muckalee’s incredible run came to an end with a 4-08 to 0-7 loss to O’Dwyers in the final.
Although the scoreline suggests it was one-way traffic throughout, the Kilkenny side will feel as though the game was lost in a brief one-minute spell.
Trailing by 2-02 to 0-05 at the interval, two quickfire goals from full-forward Shannon Richardson just after half-time all but ended the game as a contest.
Despite that, Pat McDowell’s spirited team continued to endeavour and refused to accept defeat for the remainder of an entertaining and good-spirited game.
It wasn’t to be for Muckalee, but they can reflect on a historical year for the club and look forward to 2023.
