Kilkenny bounced back from their second-round defeat to Tipperary with a 13-point win over Laois in O’Moore Park.
A blistering performance in the first half from Derek Lyng’s men created a huge mountain for Laois to climb, trailing by 14 points by the time the half-time whistle blew. Laois however performed much better in the second half, outscoring the Cats, with Martin Phelan grabbing the only goal of the game as soon as the next 35 minutes began.
See also: Derek Lyng: “I wouldn’t get too excited with the second half” as Kilkenny brush past Laois
Despite this though, Laois manager Wille Maher was disgusted by his side’s performance in the opening 35 minutes
“I am absolutely disgusted with the first half, and we let the lads know that at halftime. When you are playing Kilkenny or any of the top counties, you have to go at them, and sure we didn’t lay a glove in the first half.”
“The second half was a bit more decent, but look the game was over.”
“We did something positive in the second half, but it made no impact on the result.”
Listen back to the full interview below:
