Paul Murphy- Clinical Cats will be happy at putting up a big score

I expected Antrim to put up a bit more of a fight and I thought they’d have a few measurables that they’d want to take away from the game, maybe rack up a bit of a score. Granted they got their goals, but I felt it was more of a case that Kilkenny switched off for one or two moments and Antrim got the goals.

Kilkenny did what they should have done in that they went out early in the game and very much put any doubt out of Antrim’s mind.

If Antrim thought they were going to be in the game for any length, that certainly wasn’t Kilkenny’s plan. They’d a great game, with the goals laying down a marker for them.

Even the wide variety of scorers and the way they moved the ball so well showed they were a class above Antrim. Kilkenny will just be happy that they racked up a high score and they can move onto their next match now.

As we’ve seen in previous years, there is a potential that this round-robin could come down to scoring difference. You could see in the other game as Galway put up a big score against Westmeath.

Kilkenny and Galway will be keeping an eye on that just in case something unexpected like Kilkenny lose to Wexford was to happen or so on.

If it is to come down to score difference, at least Kilkenny have that big score against Antrim. They can only control what they can control, so it was great to see that ruthless streak in the game on Sunday.

They looked like a team that went out there and wanted to get as many scores as possible as it could only benefit them in this round-robin. That ruthlessness and willingness to go for goals was a real positive.

What Derek Lyng will be looking back on is the concentration of his players. I’ve been part of similar games where you are winning well by 10 or 15 points and you just switch off briefly and a goal goes in.

It doesn’t really drag the other team back into it; it’s just a lapse of concentration and Derek will be looking at that and saying ok if we go ahead which could happen in any game as we saw in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final with Kilkenny leading by 14 points against Clare and then they drifted back into it.

You’re as much practising your concentration at that stage more than anything else so I think Derek will look at it and think with the quality of our defence and the individual quality of the defenders that we’ve shown we are capable of shutting out other teams.

In the event of us going ahead by 10 or 12 points, which may very well happen at any stage in championship hurling, we don’t want to lose our concentration there and needlessly let teams back into it.

I don’t think Derek will be too concerned from Antrim opening them up in any way. Like I said it’s more about the concentration and the game management of the team.

It was also brilliant to see a few lads come back from recent injuries.

After Richie Hogan went off in the league semi-final against Cork you thought if the injury was serious then maybe that could have been the end of his year or he’d have came back late if Kilkenny were to go far in the All-Ireland series.

Walter Walsh coming off the bench and getting two points was great too. When you have lads like Paddy Deegan, who has been showing really well, and Billy Drennan still to come back it shows that there is plenty of competition for places in Kilkenny.

Every team is looking to have a strong panel and sustain 70 minutes of hurling so the more lads that are putting their hands up and performing when they come off the bench is a real positive for Kilkenny and that’s where they’ll be looking for their strengths if they advance from the round-robin stage.

If they want to go on to an All-Ireland semi-final or final they’ll want a really solid bench and lads fighting for places so to see those lads coming back from injury so soon is credit to the backroom staff.

It’s also encouraging as a supporter that the selection will be very tough come potentially a Leinster final and that’s what you want.

This weekend is Kilkenny’s only window to go off and have a big training session either Thursday night or Saturday depending on what nights they train.

They will also be keeping one eye on the fact that lads have played a number of games in the last few weeks and maybe they’ll want to avoid niggling injuries creeping in.

It’s all about striking the balance there really. Every player is itching to get their chance to put their hand up in training so they’ll have to give players that opportunity.

The management will have to keep an eye on lads that are maybe carrying a few small knock so there is definitely a balance to be struck there. The answer t0 this will really be ensuring that the players and team are fresh.

I know they are coming off the back of the Antrim game but I don’t think there’ll be much worry about picking up knocks in a game like that, so really it’s an opportunity for Derek and the lads to refocus the minds of the players.