there was time for one massive talking point. After Brian Hogan had a highly debatable free given against him, John O’Dwyer was given a chance to hand Tipp the victory with a 97-metre free. Hawk-Eye confirmed how close he had come to settling a titanic clash, which ended in a draw. The replay three weeks later was a very different game. From the start, Kilkenny went with man-marking roles on the Tipperary danger men. Richie Power struck the first goal in the 59th minute and younger brother John, one of three pre-match changes to the starting team, pounced from close range after Darren Gleeson pulled off a save to keep out a deflected Michael Fennelly effort. Tipperary battled valiantly all the way to the end, and when Séamus Callanan scored his second goal of the evening in the 69th minute, a grandstand finish looked certain. Colin Fennelly crowned Kilkenny’s win with the final score of the game as the clock ran out on Tipperary and Henry Shefflin secured a record-breaking 10th winners' medal. 2015 — Galway reeled in by Kilkenny On 6 September 2015, Kilkenny faced a Galway team who had been buoyed by a thrilling win over Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final. Galway's reason for optimism seemed justified when they settled well to go 0-4 to 0-2 clear in the 9th minute. Kilkenny pounced for a goal in the 13th minute, T. J. Reid rattling the net after being placed in space by Walter Walsh. A Reid free moments later left the Cats ahead 1-04 to 0-05 but it didn’t prove a setback for Galway as they pushed forward again. Joe Canning, Jason Flynn and Conor Whelan all weighed in with some memorable points and they enjoyed a three-point advantage at the interval. Kilkenny emerged a different proposition in the second-half and quickly wiped out Galway’s lead to draw level at 1-11 to 0-14. Trailing by 1-17 to 0-16 at the midway mark of the second-half, the signs looked ominous for Galway as Kilkenny closed out the game in a clinical fashion to secure a 1-22 to 1-18 victory. 2016 — Tipperary finally blow Kilkenny away For the sixth time in eight seasons, Kilkenny and Tipperary faced off in an All-Ireland final on 4 September 2016. The pattern of the first-half saw the teams refusing to yield as they stayed close to each other. Kilkenny may have been in