2008 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
 |
|||||||
| Event | 2008 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||
| Date | 7 September 2008 | ||||||
| Venue | Croke Park, Dublin | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Brian Cody (Kilkenny) | ||||||
| Referee | Barry Kelly (Westmeath) | ||||||
| Attendance | 82,186 | ||||||
| Weather | Mild and sunny 16 °C (61 °F) |
||||||
The 2008 All-Ireland Hurling Final was a hurling match played on 7 September 2008 in Croke Park, Dublin, between Kilkenny and Waterford. The match was the 121st All-Ireland Hurling Final and the culmination of the 2008 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. It was the fourth time that the teams will have played each other in the final, having played each other previously in 1957, 1959 and 1963. Kilkenny won their 31st All-Ireland Championship and in doing so overtook Cork on the roll of honour. The Kilkenny win witnessed the county doing 3 in a row for the first time since 1913. The match represented Waterford's sixth appearance in the All-Ireland Final and their first for 45 years since 1963. Waterford have not won the All-Ireland Championship since 1959.
This particular fixture has been infrequent in the history of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship due to the provincial structure of the championship from 1888 to 1996. Kilkenny have played Waterford a total of six times in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Kilkenny have 4 victories, Waterford have one and the remaining fixture ended as a draw. The last encounter between the two teams occurred in 2004 where a Henry Shefflin-inspired Kilkenny side ran out semi-final winners on a scoreline of Kilkenny 3–12, Waterford 0–18.
Kilkenny's path to the All-Ireland Hurling Final turned out to be a more straight forward affair in comparison to Waterford. Kilkenny's Leinster Championship campaign started off in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise on 15 June 2008 against Offaly. The match turned out to be a very one-sided affair with Henry Shefflin scoring 11 points on his return from a long term injury. Kilkenny eventually ran out easy winners on a scoreline of Kilkenny 2–24 Offaly 0–12. Kilkenny moved onto the Leinster Hurling Final where they would face a Wexford side who took a replay to defeat Dublin in the other semi-final. As in previous year, the Leinster Final also turned out to be a one sided affair. Wexford stuck with Kilkenny for the first half but the cats pulled away in the second half, essentially killing off Wexford's challenge with 4 goals in the second half. Kilkenny became Leinster Champions for the ninth time in ten years on a scoreline of Kilkenny 5–21 Wexford 0–17.
...
Wikipedia