Kilkenny never had to leave second gear as they beat Clare by 1-20 to 0-14 at Semple Stadium.

The Cats are through to the 2012 national hurling league final, where they will face the winners of the second instalment of today's Thurles double-header between Tipperary and Cork.

That will be a more difficult assignment. In truth, the gulf between Divisions 1A and 1B was all too apparent in this curtain raiser and the Clare challenge never really materialised after the restart.

Brian Cody's men led by the odd point from 15 at the end of a flat, low-quality first half which was dominated by the free-taking of Richie Power and Conor McGrath (who bagged 0-5 apiece before the short whistle), with little else to write home about.

Throw-in was delayed for almost 15 minutes due to crowd congestion around the grounds. When the action finally commenced, the landscape was damp and grey. A lethargy seemed to have shrouded the venue.

Matthew Ruth slotted over the opening point for the Cats inside the first minute but the Banner County refused to panic and moved ahead thanks to a brace of beautifully-struck Conor McGrath frees. As the rain came pouring down in Thurles, the crowd (what a stressful afternoon they were having!) ran for cover into the stand.

Richie Power's free tied the scores up on six minutes and the Black & Amber centre forward followed up with a trademark point from play a couple of minutes later. Colin Fennelly effortlessly doubled the gap with an unchallenged finish from a central position.

McGrath's shot at the end of a flowing Clare move went inches to the left of the target but Sean Collins showed the Kilkenny rearguard a clean pair of heels to make it a one-point game again after twelve minutes. And Nicky O'Connell's long-range strike had the sides level again less than 60 seconds later: 0-4 each.

Power (free) took his third point but TJ Reid's shot flew wide of the uprights. Power added another free and McGrath replied to keep the underdogs in touch with 15 minutes left in the first half.

In the 22nd minute, Eoin Larkin waltzed through the Clare defence and knocked the sliothar to the net as he tumbled. It should have been a Kilkenny goal but the referee had blown and the result was a penalty and a yellow card for Brendan Bugler (even though it seemed to be Banner goalkeeper Patrick Kelly who had tripped the Cats full forward).

To add insult to injury, Power's penalty was saved by Clare captain Patrick Donnellan and the Noresiders followed up with two very poor wides. McGrath floated over the levelling free in the 26th minute and out-of-sorts Kilkenny replied with a John Mulhall wide.

On the half-hour, Colin Fennelly demonstrated great perseverance to win the ball and his first-time groundstroke flew powerfully over the bar to restore Kilkenny's advantage. It could easily have been a goal. Enda Barrett was off target at the other end.

McGrath won and converted a free for the equalising point in the final minute of first-half normal time and Bugler's long hit drifted to the left and wide as the Shannonsiders strived to take an unlikely interval lead. There was a minute of injury time and in the second added minute (always happens, doesn't it?), Power knocked over the free that ensured the All-Ireland champions of the slenderest of half-time advantages, 0-8 to 0-7.

Upon the restart, Colin Ryan provided a great Clare point at the end of a patient move, the Banner taking inspiration from some brilliant Donal O'Donovan defending. But Kilkenny finally got their goal in the 40th minute when Ruth was on hand to first-time the sliothar to the net after Kelly had saved Larkin's shot from a tight angle. Ruth followed up with a point and McGrath missed a simple free as the Clare men looked rattled.

Michael Fennelly stroked over a tenth Kilkenny point after his younger brother Colin had done all the donkeywork - but Alan Markham replied to leave four between them after 45 minutes, 1-10 to 0-9. Mulhall instinctively blazed over another Cats minor from way out the field before John Conlon and Reid traded wides.

Midfielder O'Connell and Power (free) split the posts at either end as the red-hot favourites remained five points ahead. Reid stretched the margin after O'Connell erred at the other end and Power's latest free made it 1-14 to 0-10 with less than quarter of the match left.

Power drilled over a fantastic point from play and McGrath (free) tapped over a consolation point for the beaten Banner. Larkin, Power (free), Donnellan, Ryan (2), Fennelly, Kieran Joyce and Ruth knocked over meaningless scores before David Herity made a late save from Jonathan Clancy.

They may have been well beaten today but Davy Fitzgerald and Clare will be happy with their league campaign in general.

Kilkenny - D Herity; P Murphy, JJ Delaney, J Tyrrell; T Walsh, B Hogan, R Doyle; M Fennelly (0-2), C Buckley; TJ Reid (0-1), R Power (0-9), J Mulhall (0-1); C Fennelly (0-2 ), E Larkin (0-1), M Ruth (1-3). Subs: M Bergin for Larkin, K Joyce (0-1) for Walsh, C Fogarty for Doyle.

Clare - P Kelly; D O'Donovan, C Dillon, C Cooney; B Bugler, P O'Connor, L Markham (0-1); N O'Connell (0-2), P Donnellan (0-1); F Lynch, S Collins (0-1), E Barrett; C Ryan (0-3), C McGrath (0-6), J Conlon. Subs: J Clancy for Lynch, A Cunningham for Barrett, S Moreny for Collins.

Ref - A Kelly (Galway). Tweet

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