Disappointed Lyng not looking for excuses after Carlow draw

This was Kilkenny and Carlow’s second meeting of the year and the end to end thrilling affair couldn’t have been in further contrast to when the sides met in the Walsh Cup back in January.

Anyone who attended that game on a damp and cold Tuesday evening would have found it very difficult to envisage Carlow getting anything against their more illustrious opponents but on Saturday they turned the table on the Cats to force a draw.

“The game was probably a fair result and we had plenty of chances and a few things probably didn’t go our way but Carlow probably deserved the result in the end,” he said.

“The sending off didn’t help as it was early in the game but at the same time we probably got a bit ragged in the second half and lost our shape which is disappointing and we had a chance to reset from the red card at half-time but when you are creating chances and not taking them it puts pressure on the team.

“That frustration probably seeped through but we’ll have to take it on the chin as there is no excuse,” the Kilkenny manager said afterwards.

Kilkenny had put in a decent opening half but Carlow ground them down in the second period.

“We were playing against a strong enough breeze in the first half so I was reasonably happy but we still left a lot of scores behind in the first half and we knew if we weren’t as clinical in the second half we were going to be under pressure as it was a hot day and the extra man would suit them.

“We weren’t clinical and that’s that, Carlow were quicker to the ball and that’s my responsibility as we weren’t good enough today.

“Today wasn’t good enough and we just have to dust ourselves down now and get ready for next weekend as it will be a huge battle.”

The injury list seems to be increasing for the Cats as well after Jordan Molloy went off and Paddy Deegan and Richie Reid missed out on the squad altogether.

“Jordan Molloy went off injured but we didn’t know the extent of it as of yet and it looked like a muscle knock so generally they take a week or two to recover from so we’ll have to see how that goes,” Lyng added.

Dublin is next up on Saturday.

“We have to move on quickly and we have our own standards but I can’t take anything away from Carlow as they performed really well and they deserved to get a result out of today.

“We weren’t good enough and we know that and we have to be better the next day but the lads are giving everything and I can’t fault that even though we’d still be disappointed overall as a group.”

On the other side Carlow boss Tom Mullally was pleased with how his side competed against his native county.

“It’s important, we don’t have the pick Kilkenny, Wexford and even Antrim probably have. We have to make the most of our resources.

“We are trying as best as possible but they have to also step up to the mark for Carlow when they are called upon.

“Today I think the lads did that and we would have liked to get the win in as much as we are happy to have got the point.”

“Once we got through the first ten minutes of the second half, we obviously needed a goal and the goal came at the right stage for us .

“Kilkenny are used to running in three or four goals and they might have had an extra chance or two today but they were not clear-cut chances either.”