Five talking points as Wexford lose out to dominant Kilkenny in U20 Hurling Championship

Wexford travelled to Kilkenny on Saturday afternoon to take on Kilkenny…

It was the first round of the Leinster U20 hurling championship for both teams.

The game finished on a score-line of 4-21 to 2-14 in favour of Kilkenny.

Score-line didn’t reflect dominance:

It’s tough to write, but the score-line did not reflect Kilkenny’s dominance in this game. The Cats’ missed a significant amount of easy chances, chances that they would have put over on any other day. They had eighteen wides in the game. Although they did score a cracking 4-21, it could have easily been a score-line racked up of 5-30 on another day. A point to note is that Kilkenny scored 4-15 from play, to Wexford’s 2-9 from play.

Wexford’s lack of inside threat:

The one major concern for Wexford would be the fact that they did not really seem to pose a threat close to goal. While they did score two goals, the ball never seemed to stick in the inside forward line. The ball came out way too quickly and easily. It wasn’t helped by the fact that Kilkenny’s centre-back dropped back into the sweeper role to counter-act Wexford’s sweeper system. Wexford gave Kilkenny’s centre back, Bill Hughes, a free reign around Nowlan Park – and he orchestrated the game from just behind the centre-back position. Despite being ten points down in the second-half, little seemed to change.

Subs taking chances:

Some of Wexford’s subs did take their chances when they were brought onto the pitch, which is always a positive sign. Wexford sub Jake Molloy did quite well when he came on, attacking the Kilkenny defence on multiple occasions which was something that was greatly missing for large portions of the game from a Wexford perspective. Meanwhile, Farrell, who was brought on in the wing-forward line, won a free after just 10 seconds which was slotted over – and he also added another point late on in the game. Both players will be in contention to start in the next game.

Rowley’s goal:

One of the bright sparks for Wexford was their midfielder. Sean Rowley, who played at midfield during last year’s U20 campaign and represents Oylegate-Glenbrien club, scored a cracking goal in the second-half. Rowley created the chance himself, soloing past two Kilkenny defenders before burying the goal into the top corner. While it was undoubtedly too late in the game to form any sort of comeback, it was a great piece of skill that definitely needs a mention.

Laois next:

The new format means Wexford’s campaign is far from over. A win against Laois would likely see Wexford placed into a Leinster quarter-final, while a loss against Laois would likely see them in a preliminary quarter-final, based on the other result between Kilkenny and Laois. Wexford will take on Laois in Chadwicks Wexford Park on Saturday 13th April. This Laois side will be no pushovers though. Two years ago, the Laois minor squad made it to the Leinster Minor final where they lost out to Offaly. Most of their players from that team will be available for the u-20 clash against Wexford in the Park.