Kilkenny 3-22
Carlow 0-7

Kilkenny bounced back from their dismal defeat to Dublin to hammer Carlow at Dr Cullen Park today.

Heavily criticised after they could only manage three points against the Dubs in the first round, Pat Hoban's charges answered their critics in emphatic fashion to qualify for the provincial semi-final with 24 points to spare over their neighbours, who exit the championship.

Favoured by a strong wind in the first half, Kilkenny set out their stall by racing into a 1-7 to 0-1 lead inside the first quarter with Alan Murphy helping himself to 1-2. The Cats went on to lead by 1-14 to 0-2 at the break and they continued to dominate in the second half.

Murphy's second goal in the 45th minute stretched the visitors' lead to 2-17 to 0-4 and brought the Glenmore sharpshooter's tally for the afternoon to 2-7.

There was no respite for the Barrowsiders as Danny O'Connor added a third major with eight minutes remaining to make it 3-18 to 0-5.

Kilkenny - D Brennan; T Walsh, C Delaney, J Keoghan; J Cleere, D Joyce, C Doheny; D Mullen, A Gaffney (0-1); R Corcoran (0-4), S Morrissey (0-5), B Ryan; A Murphy (2-9, 0-9f), L Blanchfield (0-1), J Walsh (0-1). Subs: E Kenny (0-1) for J Walsh, G Bryan for E Kenny, B McDowell for J Cleere, D O'Connor (1-0) for L Blanchfield, C O'Meara for T Walsh.

Carlow - S Walshe; T Maher, P Shanahan, P Coughlan; D Grennan, E Redmond, A Dunne; K McDonald (0-4f), G Coady; O Roberts (0-1), C Foley, A Kane; D O'Neill, L Galway, C Nolan (0-2). Subs: S O'Neill for C Foley, J Murphy for D Grennan, C Byrne for T Maher, A Casey for P Coughlan, C Foley for A Kane.

Referee - D Harrington. Tweet

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