Defending champions Kilkenny will once again carry the favourites tag into this Sunday's All-Ireland Hurling Final replay against Galway.
Croke Park is the venue for the much-awaited All-Ireland SHC final replay between Kilkenny and Galway. The first match ended all square and so we are treated to another instalment that hopefully will be as exciting as the first.
Kilkenny are the most successful team in history, having won the title no less than 33 times, and are the defending champions, having regained the trophy from Tipperary 12 months ago. The Cats in fact are in the final for a seventh consecutive time, but all of that will count for little on the evidence of the first match on September 9.
The outcome was a replay of the final for the first time since 1959, when Kilkenny were also involved, and on that occasion they lost the decider to Waterford. Kilkenny scored the first point at Leinster as early as the fifth minute, and from then on Galway defended hard for the next half hour.
Kevin Hynes and Johnny Coen both played out of their skins in helping to keep Kilkenny at bay, but not for the first time this season Kilkenny saved their best for the second half.
However, Galway grabbed a lifeline when awarded a free in injury time, and Joe Canning, who had missed one just minutes before, kept his nerve to score and keep Galway in with a chance of a first final success since 1988 and a fifth in all.
Kilkenny go into the replay as hot favourites, though, and you can be sure they will have studied the Leinster video to make sure they find a way to see off Anthony Cunningham’s team at the second attempt.
1/2 Kilkenny
11/1 Draw
2/1 Galway
