2000 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final

Match report

At 3:30 PM, match referee Willie Barrett threw in the sliotar and the 112th Millennium All-Ireland final got underway. After six minutes, Kilkenny's D.J. Carey "pounced" on a mistake from Offaly corner-back Niall Claffey to score Kilkenny's opening goal. Carey's sixth-minute goal was followed three minutes later by a Henry Shefflin goal. Shefflin's effort was helped home by Carey but the umpire ruled that the ball had already crossed the line. After ten minutes, the score was 2-3 to 0-1 in Kilkenny's favour. The last twenty-five minutes of the opening half saw Offaly score seven more points, five of which came from Johnny Dooley frees. Offaly's only real goal chance, a ground stroke from Michael Duignan, went narrowly wide in the eighteenth minute. Kilkenny, however, created several opportunities to add to their two early goals and soon after Charlie Carter bagged a third goal for Kilkenny four minutes before half-time. At the interval, despite Offaly's eighteen scoring chances to Kilkenny's fifteen, the latter had a ten-point lead of 3-10 to 0-9.

At the beginning of the second half, the Offaly selectors made some tactical changes. Wing-back Brian Whelahan and corner-forward Michael Duignan swapped positions while John Troy was brought from the substitutes' bench. For the second time Shefflin was the man on hand to hit the fourth goal after latching onto a long clearance from substitute Canice Brennan and kicking the sliothar past Stephen Byrne from close range. In the fifty-ninth minute,Johnny Pilkington clawed one back for Offaly when his shot went past James McGarry. An injury-time goal by substitute Eddie Brennan was the final decider as Kilkenny defeated their Leinster rivals by 5-15 to 1-14.

This game marked the end of the road for the "great" Offaly team of the 1990s while it was the beginning of a decade of success for Kilkenny.

Match details

15:30 BST D. J. Carey (1-4) C. Carter (1-3) D. Byrne (0-4) E. Brennan (1-0) J. Hoyne (0-1) A. Comerford (0-1) J. Pilkington (1-1) G. Hanniffy (0-1) B. Murphy (0-1) P. Mulhaire (0-1) Joe Dooley (0-1) B. Whelahan (0-1)

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MATCH RULES

• 70 minutes.
• Replay if scores level.
• Five named substitutes

References

References

1. (11 September 2000). "GAA: Goal-hero Carey named man of the match".
2. (2000-08-08). "Barrett will referee final". Irish Times.
3. (11 September 2000). "Goal hungry Kilkenny play Cat and mouse with Offaly". Irish Independent.
4. (10 September 2000). "Majestic Kilkenny obliterate Offaly". Irish Times.
5. (30 December 2022). "Memories of Kilkenny's All-Ireland triumph in 2000". Kilkenny People.