The Leinster hurling final was very enjoyable to watch, full of skill and great scores on both sides. Territorially Kilkenny were the better side, but Wexford have a knack of hanging in and giving themselves a chance with a late score or two. Seeing as they pulled the cat out of the fire twice in the last two years with last-ditch goals, the odds were against them doing it again this time, but they came close enough.

Ultimately, for all its gameness and skill, the major problem with this Wexford team is its lack of physical presence up front and the inability of their forwards to consistently make life difficult for the opposing defence. The second-half statistics from the game tell it all: between them the Wexford forwards played the ball just 14 times after the change of ends; the corresponding figure for the Kilkenny forwards was 43. That this imbalance was not reflected on the scoreboard is down to some terrific defending by the yellowbellies, good goalkeeping by Fitzhenry and a fair bit of luck.

With the scoring so tight, other factors came to play a key role in deciding the result. One of these was refereeing errors. In viewing the tape of the game, An Moltóir recorded what he thought were erroneous decisions by the referee. He counted six which favoured Wexford and nine which favoured Kilkenny. Those which favoured Kilkenny had a decisive impact on the scoreboard. These included the amazing decision not only not to award a free for the high tackle on Paul Carley late in the first half, but to allow play to continue with Carley lying injured on the ground. An Moltóir also believes that Henry Sheflin was not fouled by Doc O’Connor in the ensuing Kilkenny attack – in fact Sheflin dived twice during this incident.

Kilkenny also got a point from a free awarded very dubiously for a foul on Eoin Larkin in the first half, and the referee allowed Richie Power to take nine steps before shooting a point in the same half. Kilkenny got another point from a 65 after Damien Fitzhenry was illegally shouldered out over the end-line from inside the square, again in the first half. Any umpire worth his salt would have noticed this and informed the referee. So there we have a five-point swing in favour of Kilkenny in a game which they won by three points.

Even then, Wexford could have made life a lot more uncomfortable for the Cats were it not for some bad decision-making late in the game. With five minutes to go and Wexford one point behind, Skippy Ruth hit a free from his own 65 which was allowed to hop harmlessly wide to the right of the Kilkenny goal. Where was the corner forward? After that, Ruth lost his nerve a bit and underhit two subsequent frees which landed around the 20 meter line when they should have gone into the goalmouth. Rory McCarthy did the same coming up to the end, sending a short ball into the half forward line when a goal was needed and the most likely way to get it was to put the ball into the goal area.

Even Rory Jacob’s two late frees were badly judged. The best way to get a goal from a fifty metre free is to drive a hard dipping shot into the goalmouth and hope for a deflection. The soft lob which he actually hit in was easy meat for a team as strong under the high ball as Kilkenny. And if you are trying for a goal from thirty metres you send in a low hard ball which should hop before it reaches the square. The shoulder high shot which Jacob delivered was easy pickings for James McGarry.

The big performer for Wexford was Dizzy Lyng, who played the ball 19 times in all – 12 in the first half. Putting Gorta Comerford out on him in the second half played a major role in turning the tide in favour of Kilkenny. Wexford’s other big players were Skippy Ruth (15 plays) and Eoin Quigley (10). The other Wexford defenders also generally acquitted themselves well, especially given the kind of pressure they were under in the second half.

However, when it came to individual displays, the Cats were way out in front. Tommy Walsh led the way with 16 plays (8 in each half) and was a deserving man of the match. Not far behind were Derek Lyng who gave another powerhouse display at midfield and Richie Power who had a great second half (14 plays each), Peter Barry, Eoin Larkin and Richie Mullally (12), and Gorta and Sheflin (10 each). Why Cody didn’t bring Mullally on in last year’s All-Ireland final will forever be a mystery. Larkin looked like he might be man of the match in the first half, but faded after the change of ends. It wasn’t obvious why James Ryall was taken off, as his opposite number was doing little damage.

In terms of overall plays, the first half was even Steven, at 71 each. In the second half, the Cats won hands down, 78 to 59. A fair reflection of the trend of the game was that Damien Fitzhenry played the ball eight times in normal play, a very high count for a goalkeeper. There were only six outfield Wexford players who played the ball more often than that. However, there is still a question mark or two surrounding the makeup of the Kilkenny team. Brian Barry appeared to make little impact at midfield, and Conor Phelan played just two balls (one of them a nice point) before being called ashore. I suppose if needs be they can throw in DJ as a stop-gap the next day, and move Tommy Walsh to wherever there are leaks occurring (if he hasn’t moved there already himself).

In An Moltóir’s view, Kilkenny at this stage look a better bet than Cork. While both teams have strong defences, the Cats seem to have a greater cutting edge up front. If they should meet Cork again, I expect they will deploy Tommy Walsh better in order to disrupt the Rebels’ running game. Of the rest, Waterford certainly have a lot of forward firepower, and if Fergal Hartley can make a go of the fullback position when the heat really comes on, they should also be in contention. Tipperary, Galway, Limerick and Wexford are all short of genuine scoring forwards, although they are all capable of making life difficult for any opposition. As for Galway, you never know, do you?