Dublin hoping to relive 2013 dream against wounded Cats

Kilkenny's dramatic defeat to Galway a fortnight ago has complicated the provincial picture for the reigning Leinster champions.

They travel to Parnell Park today to face a Dublin team who have won three from three so far, including an impressive victory in Wexford Park. Were this to become four from four, the Cats would almost certainly need to beat Darragh Egan's side in Nowlan Park on the final day to make an All-Ireland quarter-final.

But Brian Cody won't necessarily be chewing his fingernails on the sideline.

Dublin may have stunned Kilkenny in a semi-final replay in 2013 but that was their first victory in the championship fixture for 71 years and they have lost all six meetings since, including last year's provincial final by nine points.

Former Kilkenny midfielder and current Offaly boss Michael Fennelly missed that seismic encounter nine years ago with an ankle injury. Anthony Daly's Dublin went on to claim the Leinster title but Fennelly is a little relieved, retrospectively, that their journey that year came to an end in an All-Ireland semi-final.

"We've always been competitive with Dublin," he told RTÉ Sport. "In 2013, from memory, that was a big year for Dublin to kick on and potentially to get into an All-Ireland final. Cork beat them in the semi-final, when Ryan O'Dwyer was sent off, a big moment in the game.

"I think that was a big moment in Dublin hurling. In one sense, maybe it was a good thing they didn't win because we've had a dominant [Dublin] football team for the last five, six, seven years and obviously you wouldn't want a dominant hurling team coinciding with it."

Though eight-time All-Ireland winner Fennelly also thinks that some of Dublin's recent higher-profile footballers might have opted for the