Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng rues lack of sharpness in defeat to Galway

A three point home league defeat is not the end of the world or anything but it has increased the stakes a little for the games to come in the next few weeks for Kilkenny.

Sunday’s loss to Galway was somewhat of the unexpected variety but Derek Lyng acknowledged that his team wasn’t good enough to get anything out of the game on the day.

“We weren’t sharp enough and Galway were the better team.

“We did well to get back into the game but we didn’t deserve to get anything out of it in the end.”

The Urlingford man felt that his team afforded Galway too much space and they paid for it in the end.

“Galway are a good team and they have good hurlers and they were a lot sharper with their first touch and everything.

“They hurt us and we didn’t put enough pressure on them and if you don’t do that, good teams will certainly punish you.”

Sunday’s outing saw Lyng give opportunities to a number of players and despite the experimental nature of the side at the moment, they know they still need to get points on the board.

“We are looking to find players and there will be ups and downs throughout the league but we are still looking to perform and still looking to win.

“That’s not an excuse or anything but we are working on things at the moment and sometimes the extra pass is not needed and we need to be a little bit better at that.

“The management team as well as the players are working hard and it’s not going to happen overnight and the players are trying to do the right thing even if we are disappointed with the performance overall,” he continued.

The Cats gave themselves plenty to do as they trailed for much of the contest but the manager was pleased at the way they kept battling away even if they were slightly off performance wise.

“The effort is definitely there with the lads but they just weren’t as sharp as we’d like them to be and when that happens against a good team, you can get picked off if you don’t initiate enough pressure.

“I thought we did well to work our way back into the game after being eight points behind so in fairness to the boys they kept at it but we need to be in the game a lot earlier.”

One big positive at the start of the season has been the form of Mossy Keoghan who’s scored 12 points from play over the course of the first two league games.

“Mossy (Keoghan) has been a super player for us over the years and he’s probably coming to the stage where he’s stepping up into a leadership role a lot more and his application in training has always been top class.

“That then reflects well when you get to the pitch as he’s experienced now and he’s leading from the front which is great.”

The loss has increased the pressure ahead of the visit to Wexford on Saturday with points at such a premium in this new league structure.

With a week’s break to come and further games with Limerick, Cork and Tipperary still lying in wait, a win would at least ensure that the Cats will be looking up the table rather than over their shoulder.

“Every game is vital and next week is no different and we know that we’ve a lot of work to do this week to get ready for Saturday.

“We have to balance things up as we have a lot of sore bodies there with the pitch being soft and it’s heavy going on lads with us training hard at the moment as well so we’ll just have to see how we are during the week.”