Relentless Kilkenny punish Antrim in Leinster SHC opener

Kilkenny scored four of their five goals after the break

It was a tough start to the Leinster Hurling Championship for Antrim at Nowlan Park on Sunday as Kilkenny romped to a comprehensive 5-30 to 0-13 win.

There was no mercy shown by the Cats who were keen to lay down a marker and they did just that, dominating from start to finish to give Antrim no encouragement of causing an upset.

They were simply stronger, sharper and playing the game at a different pace than Antrim who couldn't get into it at all.

After the initial exchanges that saw TJ Reid land two frees to Conal Cunning's one, Kilkenny began to open their shoulders with Adrian Mullen, Richie Reid and John Donnelly Landon from play.

The Saffrons replied with Cunning frees either side of their first from play by James McNaughton, the first of those placed balls coming when Eoghan Campbell was adjudged to have been trailed down just outside the area with a goal on.

Kilkenny were keen to lay down a marker

Kilkenny were dominating the restart with Antrim struggling to win primary possession and after points from Cian Kenny and Martin Keoghan, the goal they had been threatening arrived as Paddy Deegan fetched an Antrim poc-out, went long to TJ Reid who beat Ryan McGarry in the air before scampering through for goal.

Two points followed before Antrim goalkeeper Ryan Elliott was sin-binned for taking down Keoghan outside the area but was deemed a penalty infringement. Tiernan Smyth came in with Niall McKenna making way for 10 minutes and the Ballycastle man made a stunning save from Reid's penalty.

A Conor McCann score at the other end was Antrim's response, yet although the wides were mounting for Kilkenny with nine in the opening half, there were enough scores to supplement as they led 1-15 to 0-7 at the break.

It took Kilkenny a few minutes to get going in the second period with Reid again getting them going from a free with John Donnelly and Shane Murphy chipping in.

Antrim were making little to no headway, chipping in with the odd sporadic score, but Kilkenny were in overdrive with their bench paving their worth as Owen Wall got in for their second goal on 49 minutes.

Antrim host Wexford next week

Billy Drennan would deputise nicely for TJ Reid with a haul of 1-6 between frees and play, his goal coming from a later penalty after Keoghan was tripped by Conor Boyd outside the area but deemed a goalscoring chance to earn another black card.

Prior to that, Wall had blasted home his second goal and Gearóid Dunne also rattled the net to cap a hugely impressive display from Derek Lyng's men, while Antrim will now seek to bounce back when they host Wexford next week.