Last year’s sub goalkeeper stars as Kilkenny rout Laois in Walsh Cup opener

Inter-county hurling is back.

It's the third of January, and while most of us are sitting on the couch at home, our inter-county hurlers and footballers are in action all over the country in their respective pre-season competitions. The value of these competitions has been questioned hugely this winter, but there's no doubt that they offer a chance to younger and fringe players to stake their claims early. Kilkenny failed to reach the All-Ireland quarter or semi-final for the first time in Brian Cody's 19 year reign as manager in 2017. They will be out to make up for lost ground this year. Cody himself will be baying for blood. They got their campaign up and running in O'Moore Park on Wednesday evening, when they took on Eamonn Kelly's Laois. The Cats fielded a youthful, experimental team, with many unfamiliar names in Portlaoise. The guard has changed in Kilkenny. Michael Fennelly's recent retirement was a a huge blow, but he wasn't the only one to depart the fray in the off-season. He followed the experienced Kieran Joyce and the former captain Shane Prendergarst out the door. Paul Murphy and Colin Fennelly are in the Lebanon on army duty and will miss the entirety of this year's League campaign. This offers Cody the perfect opportunity to blood these young and fringe players. The county is crying out for a few of them to breakthrough. There were a number of debutantes in the Kilkenny side. Enda Morrissey from Bennettsbridge was given his chance, as were St. Patrick's Ballyragget pair Stephen Staunton and Michael Brennan. The Kilkenny faithful will be excited to see former cross country runner James Maher back involved. He burst onto the scene in 2016, only to suffer an injury hell last year. Here's the team in full. https://twitter.com/johnknoxkk/status/948624932245770240 The new look team did themselves no harm. Despite Paddy Purcell goaling early to give the home side the lead, Kilkenny soon took over. They settled into the game and held a 3-8 to 1-5 lead at half-time. Central to their dominance was their lively centre forward, Richie Reid. The Ballyhale Shamrocks club man, brother of TJ netted twice for Cody's side. Reid was the sub goalkeeper on the panel last year. He was net-minder for Ballyhale Shamrock's 2014/2015 All-Ireland club winning team. He's played outfield for the club for the last few years since, and bizarrely came on as an outfield substitute, despite being listed as number 16, last year in Wexford Park during the county's loss to their neighbours in the Leinster semi-final. He could be one to watch for the year ahead. But then again, so could many of these players, with the Cats going on to destroy Laois by 28 points on a scoreline of 6-24 to 1-11. https://twitter.com/KilkennyCLG/status/948652831648681985 Conor Martin, Ger Malone, Chris Bolger scored the other three pointers in a display that will please Brian Cody. Meanwhile, Davy Fitzgerald's Wexford got off to a winning start with a 1-20 to 0-18 victory over Carlow in Hollymount. Pat Gilroy's Dublin comprehensively defeated Meath by 4-17 to 0-14.