Kilkenny played Waterford in the Allianz league round 5 in UPMC Nowlan park last Sunday, coming out on top with the scoreboard reading 0-16 to 0-18 in favor of the home side at the end.
It was a somewhat dour game, but considering the weather, it was never going to be stellar hurling on show. Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald came in for some criticism for some of his tactics, particularly when it came to the utilization of one Dessie Hutchinson, however, stand firm on his team’s performance after the game.
When looking at Kilkenny’s own game we asked Four-time All-Ireland winner Kieran Joyce with the Cats to give his immediate thoughts on the match-up;
“In the first half, it was organized chaos, the half-back line was up in the full forward line at times, and the Kilkenny half-forward line was working very deep. At times We had little to no one in the full forward line which played into Waterford’s hands.”
“We got our shape back in the second half, Waterford were three points up at one stage, they had a goal chance, and was probably the only real goal chance they had. If that went in it would be a different story, but Kilkenny pegged the three points back, they went three ahead and retained that lead.”
“It wasn’t a great game for the traditionalist, you would forget about it next week when we are playing Cork. It was good to get the win, it was good to dog it out. It was that sort of game, that you work extremely hard, you will get one or two plaudits, but it was the hard work that paid off.”
Cork make their way down to Nowlan Park hoping to reach the final this Sunday at 4 pm, however, the Cats will be seeking retribution after being knocked out at this stage last year by their old rivals. Looking ahead to this Sunday’s league semi-final clash with The Rebels, Joyce reckons Derek Lyng will be gunning to bring his first title to the Marble City ;
“Kilkenny wants to be there, it’s another competitive game before the championship. You can have in-house games, which are grand but getting a game against the likes of Cork, on the other side you have Tip and limerick. Top teams that are featuring at Championship”
“You want to get a look at them, who are they testing out? Kilkenny won’t be playing their top 15 obviously, they are still testing out people, but the more games they get the better it will stand to them come to Championship.”
“I think it is very important. He (Derek Lyng) will want to get another win, it would be great to get to a league final. There is plenty of lads to come back in there, plenty of experienced heads, but the more guys can put their hands up, the better it is for Kilkenny going forward.”
Tune in this Saturday from 4.30 pm where you can hear Scoreline’s full interview with Cork legend Tomás Mulcahy.
The three-time All-Ireland winner gives his thoughts on Kilkenny and Cork’s seasons under new management teams, both team’s hopes for 2023, and the prospects of either county ending their wait for the All-Ireland later this year.
KCLR is the only place where you can hear all of Kilkenny’s Allianz National Hurling League, Leinster championship and All-Ireland series games in 2023.
