Lyng relishing centre stage

FOR many hurling fans, Frank Cummins is, and probably always will be, the finest midfielder the game has ever seen.

Winner of a record seven All-Ireland medals in the same position (he also won an eighth, as a sub in 1967), Hurler of the Year in 1983, the year before he retired, Cummins was the original midfield colossus, a dominant figure in the middle for nearly 20 years.

He wasn’t a natural hurler — far from it, and big Frank spent many hours annually refining, almost re-learning, the skills that came so naturally to most of his Kilkenny team-mates. He would put in those hours, however, so that come the summer, his touch would be good enough to get by. Of far more importance, though, Cummins was a winner. He was a leader, the kind of guy who would — and often did — grab by the scruff of the neck a game that looked like it was slipping away, and almost by pure force of his considerable will, inspire Kilkenny to victory.

In the modern game, for Frank Cummins think Derek Lyng.

They’ve been compared before, and favourably too but as the years go by and Kilkenny continue to thrive, that comparison is ever more relevant.

Already Derek is creeping up on Frank’s All-Ireland record. Since his debut in 2001, the Emeralds star has won five All-Ireland medals in midfield for Kilkenny, and this year they are favourites to add another.

Then you take his latest game-defining performance; a couple of weeks ago, in the Leinster semi-final, Kilkenny were struggling to stay with a Galway team dictating terms in most sectors. Derek hadn’t started the match, hadn’t started any match with Kilkenny since the All-Ireland final blitz of Waterford last September, but was togged out, sitting on the bench, not expecting to be called on.

In the 47th minute with Kilkenny trailing by five points, Brian Cody had seen enough and Derek was thrown into the fray. Result? Kilkenny get a grip in midfield, score 10 points on the trot to win a game they had looked like losing.

After what looked like a career-ending injury, Derek was just happy to be back in the frame.

“I had hip surgery — a scraping, it was a tidy-up job. It was wear and tear and I had a bit of impingement there as well so I had to have a bit of bone shaved up.

“I was on crutches for four weeks, but the procedure was keyhole surgery so it wasn’t too bad. I was back walking after four weeks and from there you have to follow a rehab programme. I had the operation in January and played my first club match in the middle of May, so I’m only back since then, gradually building it up.

“I was told it would take three to four months to get back and even with that it can take up to six months for full recovery. Only now I’m back to full training — I have to manage it right and try be sensible with it.”

He’s still only 30, the age at which Cummins was coming into his prime. Given the hip had bothered him for some years, it could be this surgery will give him a new lease of life.

“I was getting pain killing injections and anti-inflammatories. I had to sit out certain training sessions and it was a case of just managing it. This time of year we’d be training three or four nights a week, but I would have to skip one or two to give it a break.

“I’m back in full training now and delighted to get a few sessions under my belt — it was a long road back.”

He’s not as big as Cummins but then few in hurling have ever had that kind of physique; he is, however, a better all-round athlete. And while he doesn’t have the silky skills of regular midfield team-mate Cha Fitzpatrick, Derek does have decent touch.

Where they do match up, however, Frank and Derek, is in their ability not just to get to the pitch of a game very quickly, but to set the tone. Thus it was against Galway that Derek, though he hadn’t played a top-class match for over nine months, and the game was already at fever-pitch, was able to almost immediately take control of his area. “You’re trying to catch your breath and it’s tough when you go into a match like that when the ball is flying everywhere. It did take me about 10 minutes to get to the pace of it, but once you chase one or two lads you’re in the middle of it.

“I was happy enough after that because I felt good. I was delighted to get in and thankfully when I got on the ball the touch was okay. In the run up to the match I was only back training properly a week or so and I had only played a few club matches.

“I didn’t really expect to be involved. It was a bonus to get in and to be part of it, a great one to win because it was a tough game.”

All of that brings us to tomorrow, and the Leinster final. Dublin in Croke Park — their own backyard, but Kilkenny’s home from home.

The Cats are hot favourites but Lyng is anticipating a major challenge from Dublin.

“It’s going to be a tough game. Dublin are after improving and have good hurlers all over the field. I watched how well they did in the league and against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park they moved the ball very well. Anthony Daly has brought them on and they’ll have their homework done. We’re expecting a tough game.”

So tough, in fact, that Dublin could even end up as winners?

“Absolutely. We know how good Dublin are. If we lower our standards at all we’ll be caught. We’ll be giving Dublin serious respect. If we don’t, we’ll be sorry.”

* Derek Lyng was speaking at an event to announce the continuation of Lucozade Sport’s partnership with Kilkenny GAA.