‘We still have a huge amount to play for’ - Derek Lyng reflects on Kilkenny's Leinster Championship loss to Wexford

Last Sunday’s loss was Kilkenny’s second successive defeat to Weford in the championship and while the Cats have bigger prizes to play for in the next few weeks, losing out to their near neighbours is never ideal.

Kilkenny boss Derek Lyng was annoyed that his team couldn’t build on their fine start to the game.

“We’d a great start really where we got a couple of goals but unfortunately we then picked up a few knocks and it kind of disrupted the way we were playing at the time.

“In saying that though, there was still plenty of time left and I thought we showed great heart in the second half as Wexford looked like they might pull away at different times.

“We managed to get back and go a couple of points ahead but overall I’m disappointed as I felt we could have been a bit more composed at times and especially when we had the wind at our backs in the second half.

“Wexford are very good at playing that extra man at the back and they worked the ball well and to be fair to them, they were excellent and got some fantastic scores.

“It’s not just about ourselves but we just have to get our heads around it now and get ready for a Leinster final.”

Kilkenny’s only loss in the round-robin was compounded by first half injuries to Adrian Mullen, Mikey Butler and Mossy Keoghan.

“Two weeks will leave it tight. I’m not sure of the significance of them all,” Lyng added. “They all had to go off, they couldn’t play on.

“Unfortunately for the three lads, it’s unusual for three to be gone in that short space of time.

“It disrupted the play a bit but still it’s no excuse for the result.

“We have a really strong panel and we had enough time to sort that out but we’re disappointed. We have to dust ourselves off and focus on two weeks.”

Wexford’s need for a win was much greater than Kilkenny’s but coming away empty handed was still disappointing for the Cats.

“It was probably Wexford’s best display of the year but in saying that we wanted to come down here and perform as we were just focussing on ourselves,” the Kilkenny manager said.

“We wanted to go into the Leinster final on the back of a win and while we’re disappointed from our point of view, we still have a huge amount to play for and we just have to get the players head around that and get everyone ready for a fortnight’s time.”

Kilkenny’s five goal tally was impressive on one hand but on the other side was the huge total Lyng’s team conceded.

“We were getting things right at our own end in terms of being a threat as we looked like scoring goals and even with the right pass once or twice in the first half we could have even scored more.

“From that point of view it was a positive but no conceding what we did at the other end is not what we want.

“I need to look back on it again but maybe we didn’t track the run once or twice and we can’t be conceding what we did today in the rest of the championship.

“The Galway game will be a huge test for us and it will be the biggest game of our championship and that’s the reality of it all.”