Cats close on another Leinster title as Wexford survive

Kilkenny kept the five-in-a-row dream in Leinster alive at a packed UPMC Nowlan Park, but only just.

The battling Cats had to dig deep during a thrilling second half before edging out great rivals Wexford by a single point in a nail-biting closing round clash in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

The Model County go through to the All-Ireland Hurling Chamionship quarter-final despite the loss.

The Cats had luck on their side. A controversial penalty award in the 51st minute, which boosted Kilkenny's lead at a vital time, looked like a harsh decision. Eoin Cody was definitely fouled when he took a low pass out of defence from Huw Lawlor.

However, Cody looked to be outside the penalty line area when impeded and knocked to the ground.

Referee Liam Gordon awarded the free shot and flashed a yellow card to a defender before TJ Reid rifled the ball into the net and Kilkenny into a 1-18 to 1-13 lead.

That score was crucial in the end as big hearted Wexford thundered back from one time arrears of six points (1-20 to 1-14) during the closing 15 minutes to lose out by a point.

Victory earned the Noresiders the ticket into the Leinster final where they will play Dublin in a repeat of the 2021 decider. Wexford finished third and qualify for the All-Ireland series.

Much of the action during the opening stages was of the 'protect the ball’ variety, with both teams playing a short game through the lines as they tried to pick open the opposing defence. In a scoring sense it was step for step - 0-01 each, 0-02 each and so on up to the 20th minute when Nowlan Park erupted when Conor McDonald goaled for Wexford.

The big Naomh Eanna man fielded a fast, direct ball out of defence from Damien Reck and with at least two defenders in close