Kilkenny hold nerve to secure U20 Leinster hurling title

Sharpshooter Billy Drennan pointed seven frees for Kilkenny which saw them eke out a narrow one point victory over a battling Wexford side in Carlow this evening.

Wexford struggled early on with the slippery conditions with Kilkenny quick to capitalise, two quick-fire scores from Denis Walsh and Timmy Clifford increased their lead out to three with 10 minutes on the clock.

A Cian Byrne free close to goal got the scoreboard for Wexford up and running finally on twelve minutes.

The Cats were having no such problems with a huge score from distance by Andy Hickey followed up immediately by a second for Walsh and a third for Drennan pushing the difference between the sides to six points with twenty minutes played.

With Wexford under immense pressure and struggling to get past the half back line they needed a response and quick. Ten minutes after their first score, Cian Molloy stood up to the task slotting Wexford’s second.

Cian Byrne’s accuracy in front of the posts was keeping the Yellowbellies in the game as two frees just before the break ensured it was just a goal that separated the sides at the interval.

Wexford began the second half just as they had ended the first with a real zip and pace to their hurling. After some excellent build up in midfield Jack Redmond found space out on the left before firing over his first point of the game and narrow the game to two.

Badly needed scores for Kilkenny soon came to stop the Wexford momentum and get them scoring themselves again after a fallow period.

Substitute Jack Doyle fired a goal with his first involvement in the game firing to the net to put six between the sides as we entered the home stretch.

The impressive Cian Byrne responded admirably with three frees keeping his side in the