Galway earn breathing space - November 19, 2000
Kilkenny City 0 Galway United 1
If Kilkenny are to have any hope of avoiding the drop back to divison one, this is exactly the sort of game they have to win - at home, against the third-from-bottom side, Galway United.
The Cats could have closed the gap on Galway to just three points and given themselves sight of safety - instead they took a giant step back towards the lower league by allowing the Westerners to stretch that gap to a whopping twelve points.
A 19th-minute strike by Eric Lavine was all that separated the sides and it was about the only bright moment in a dull encounter. Stephen Grant sent Colin Fortune scampering up the wing and Lavine dived in to meet Fortune's cross.
Galway's win came at a cost when Fortune was stretchered off near the end with a nasty-looking ankle injury.
But things look far bleaker for Kilkenny, for whom Richie Purdy was a debutant. Table-toppers Bohemians visit Buckley tomorrow and, much as City boss Joe McGrath would love to put one over on the club that sacked him two years ago, there's about as much chance of that as there is of Bohs beating Kilkenny at hurling.
Kilkenny City: Forde, O'Hanlon, Brunton, Purdy, Riordan, Costello, Parkes, McGrath, Akin, Carter, Murray
Subs: Jordan for Akin 34, Brennan for Parkes 60
Booked: Brunton, Riordan, Murray
Galway United: Forde, Murphy, Morgan, Burke, Silke, Fortune, Sheridan, Crossley, Levine, Grant, Ryan
Subs: O'Brien for Murphy 78, Maher for Fortune 90
Goal: Lavine 19
Booked: Forde
Referee: A O'Riordan (Cork)