Richard "Richie" Power (born 4 December 1985) is an Irish hurler who played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Kilkenny county team.
[1] Born in Carrickshock, County Kilkenny, Power first played competitive hurling during his schooling at St Kieran's College.
[3] He later won a Leinster intermediate winners' medal as Carrickshock defeated St Patrick's of Wexford by 2–16 to 0–7 in the inaugural provincial decider.
Power gave a masterclass of hurling, including scoring the winning point deep into injury time, to secure a 2–16 to 2–15 victory.
[11] Kilkenny's bid for a third successive All-Ireland title ended in dramatic fashion as a late point from Kerril Wade handed Galway a narrow 1–15 to 1–14 victory.
[12] For the fourth successive year Power won a Leinster medal, his third on the field of play, following a 2–18 to 2–10 defeat of Dublin before later lining out in the All-Ireland decider against Tipperary.
[13] The replay was another close encounter, however, Paddy Hogan's first half goal helped Kilkenny claw their way to the title following a 1–11 to 0–11 defeat of Tipperary.
Kilkenny were back in form that year, with Power winning a first National Hurling League medal following a huge 3–20 to 0–15 victory over Clare.
On 3 September 2006 Kilkenny faced a Cork team who were presented with the opportunity to become the first side in nearly thirty years to secure three successive All-Ireland championships.
[20] On 2 September 2007 Kilkenny faced defeated Munster finalists and surprise All-Ireland semi-final winners Limerick in the championship decider.
Kilkenny got off to a flying start with Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin scoring two goals within the first ten minutes to set the tone.
In a disappointingly one-sided final, Kilkenny produced a near perfect seventy minutes as Waterford endured a nightmare afternoon.
A 23-point winning margin, 3–24 from play, only two wides in the entire match and eight scorers in all with Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin leading the way in a 3–30 to 1–13 victory.
[24] On 6 September Kilkenny were poised to become the second team ever in the history of hurling to win four successive All-Ireland championships when they faced Tipperary in the decider.
For long periods Tipp looked the likely winners, however, late goals from Henry Shefflin and substitute Martin Comerford finally killed off their efforts to secure a 2–22 to 0–23 victory.
"The Cats" lost talisman Henry Shefflin due to injury, while Tipperary's Lar Corbett ran riot and scored a hat-trick of goals as Power's side fell to a 4–17 to 1–18 defeat.
Goals by Michael Fennelly and Richie Hogan in either half gave Kilkenny, who many viewed as the underdogs going into the game, a 2–17 to 1–16 victory.
Galway stunned the reigning champions with two first-half goals, however, Kilkenny's championship debutant Walter Walsh gave a man of the match performance, claiming a 1–3 haul.