The split season has dramatically changed the rhythm of the summer, but Kilkenny exiting the Leinster and All-Ireland championship in the month of May for the first time since 1928 still left the hurling world in shock yesterday afternoon.

Kilkenny travelled to Parnell Park with the guillotine blade glistening over their necks, and Dublin’s 1-26 to 0-22 win over the Cats saw it drop straight down.

That win meant that the Leinster final on Saturday week (June 6th) was going to be a Dublin versus Galway showdown regardless of what happened elsewhere but Galway still came from 13 points down to record a 2-31 to 3-20 away win over Wexford, while Offaly will play an All-Ireland hurling quarter-final for the first time since 2003 after they took care of business in Newbridge, overcoming Kildare by 1-29 to 0-15.

There was no mistaking the big game of the day however and that was in Donnycarney, where Kilkenny led by 0-7 to 0-6 after 19 minutes and from then on, the lifeblood was slowly drained out of a side that never got going in the 2026 Leinster SHC.

Even without Eoghan O’Donnell and Liam Rushe, Dublin took control defensively, with huge blocks from Donal Burke and Paddy Doyle raising the temperature in what was a packed house on the northside.

Two points in a minute from John Bellew got Dublin moving, five Donal Burke scores with just one Kilkenny point for punctuation helped them to move six clear, before Kilkenny finally seemed to stir into life.

Tom Phelan and TJ Reid hit the last two points before half-time, there was just a point between the sides when both Eoin Cody and Reid hit the target twice early in the second half, but instead of wobbling and falling short of their first win over Kilkenny since 2013, Dublin produced a very strong final 20 minutes. Donal Burke hammered in a penalty after Ronan Hayes was fouled and the quality of some of the points that followed from Cian O’Sullivan, Ronan Hayes and Conal Ó Riain was superb.

Kilkenny added just two Cian Kenny scores in the final 15 minutes, confirming the end of their run of six Leinster titles in a row.

For the first 25 minutes of action at Chadwicks Wexford Park, it looked as if Galway might stumble and collapse into the provincial final rather than march into it. Jack O’Connor and Cillian Byrne found the net either side of Lee Chin rattling the twine for the Model County from a penalty, pushing Wexford 3-9 to 0-5 ahead of a Galway team who just mustered two Tom Monaghan points and three Evan Niland frees in that time.

Joshua Ryan’s black card didn’t help Galway, but there was a general flatness in the side, reflecting the sluggishness that they also showed in poor first half displays against Kildare and Dublin.  

Just when it looked like the game was getting away from them, five points in five minutes dragged the Tribesmen back into game. Monaghan was again superb with 0-6 in all and he was at his best in the first half when Galway had the greatest need of someone to step up and carry the fight to a Wexford side that had nothing tangible to play for.

Scores from Gavin Lee, Ronan Glennon and Jason Rabbitte made it 3-12 to 0-15 at the turnaround, and the introduction of Conor Cooney at half-time turbo-charged the shift in momentum.

Cooney shot 1-8 in all (including seven frees) and thanks to Jason Rabbitte’s goal, Galway already had their noses in front by the time he struck his goal from a penalty with a couple of minutes remaining.

Offaly went into today’s game in Newbridge knowing that they needed help from Dublin, but that they also had to take care of business themselves. Their supporters responded to the call, dominating the crowd of around 6,000, and that support was needed as not for the first time in this championship, Kildare were very competitive in the opening half.

It was 0-13 to 0-10 to Offaly at the interval, but a red card for Kildare midfielder a minute into the second half made life much easier for them. Eoghan Cahill (0-13), Brian Duignan (1-2), Daniel Bourke (0-4) and Colin Spain (0-3) all scored well in front of a crowd that was growing increasingly buoyant as news started to filter through of Dublin’s strong finish.