Derek Lyng has booked himself and his Kilkenny team a league semi-final place after beating Waterford in a rain-drenched UPMC Nowlan Park.
There were no goals in the game, with only two points separating each side by the full-time whistle as the scoreline read 18 points to 16.
Speaking to Scoreline Lyng manager is delighted to have another tough game under his side’s belt, with Cork staring at them next weekend in the league semi-final.
We also caught up with Deise manager Davy Fitzgerald who remained positive about his team’s performance despite the result;
“I thought we could have won it, it was there for the win, too many wides in the first half, but I can not fault the effort. We were on the mark to tie them down as much as possible and have the shooting opportunities ourselves. Overall I am happy, and they will be fighting for places going into the championship that is the most important thing, there is a big few months ahead and we will see how we go.”
Ballygunnar hitman Dessie Hutchinson did not manage to get a score in the game, a week after the three-time All-Star nominee only grabbed a consolation point in the defeat to Tipperary. Since the end of the game a few critics, such as Waterford legend John Mullane & Kilkenny icon Eddie Brennan, have highlighted the need to get the former Brighton player closer to the goal. Davy was undeterred by his use of the tactic and outlined his reasoning behind it;
“I do not really care what people think to tell you the truth, whether they think he should be out or in. What Dessie will do, is he will be out and in, doing a mix of both of them. if you look at the conditions, very wet, very heavy, the ball was not traveling the way we wanted it. Did we get the ball inside? We got a number of balls inside, and at different times we got scores out of it. He had just moved out, and he has the freedom to move in and out if he wants. He has that freedom to move in and out as he wants, to try to get himself into the game or to stay inside. That will be Dessies call sometimes, to be smart in what he is doing.”
“We are only in training for three and four months. You are not going to work miracles in three or four months. Do we have to change certain ways Waterford is playing? We do. They have been in an All-Ireland final but they were totally outplayed in the Championship last year. We have to look at what we are doing, if that takes a year or two to get it, that is fine. Whatever it is, it is. We have a plan to hopefully know where we are going, and we are going to stay with that and I don’t really care what anyone thinks.”
Listen back to the full interview below, along with the thoughts of Derek Lyng below on Scoreline Extra;
