Wedding bells signal time out for Lyng

WHEN Kilkenny step onto the Semple Stadium pitch this afternoon, one very familiar face will be missing.

Last year’s All-Ireland decider was the county’s first since 2001 but it ended familiarly for Lyng, with another loss.

So she would have loved to have been in Thurles today but having married Liam Galvin yesterday, will be contenting herself with text messages, radio commentary and any other snippets of information she can glean.

For a long time she thought she might be playing. Her husband is from The Rower as well and played with the club that produced Eddie Keher, so he understood the lure.

But Lyng herself didn’t know what to do and in the end, thankfully, manager Ann Downey made the decision for her.

“I thought about the possibility of a clash when we set the date but there were no fixtures out at that point” said Lyng.

“I thought April might be okay. When the fixtures did come out, I obviously knew the league final was on the day after but it was only after beating Cork that I thought ‘oh, oh, we might have a problem here’.

“I’m just happy that Kilkenny are there though, even if I won’t be.

“Ann took it out of my hands, which was really nice of her. I just didn’t know what to do; I really wanted someone to tell me. Liam said it was up to me and different people were giving me different kinds of advice but then Ann made the call and it was a relief.”

It probably was the right decision too she reckons. Even in the semi-final, she felt flat and didn’t play well. Physically, she was fine but mentally, she was exhausted.

“I don’t think my mind could be fully on the game. And on the day of the wedding, you’d be conscious of it, so you wouldn’t be enjoying that like you should.

“Of course I’ll still be thinking of the girls and hoping that they win.”

There has also been the little matter of concern that the Icelandic volcanic ash could scupper the honeymoon but that situation has improved.

“We’ve been checking it every day. We’re flying to New York on Monday please God and after that going down to the Dominican Republic for six days.”

Any Plan B? “Maybe Wexford, depending on Saturday’s result” she laughs.

She’s only half-joking. Lyng went to school in New Ross and works as a social worker in Wexford town. She has “a great fondness” for the county and its people and reckons that the Models winning an All-Ireland made everyone else step up a level.

Remarkably, only herself and Catriona Byrne had played in a senior All-Ireland going into last year. Indeed, some of her team-mates had never even been to Croke Park.

When Lyng, who turned 27 a couple of weeks ago, played in her first All-Ireland, Downey was participating in her last.

“She’s now my manager. I don’t know what that says about me! But it’s a young person’s game now. People are getting married and have work commitments, that’s a big part of it.

“But it’s more difficult for camogie players than footballers or hurlers.

“You don’t get mileage, you don’t get the dinners. It can be hard to keep going, especially if you’re not winning. Mind you, if you’re winning, these things don’t matter.”

She has no intentions of calling it a day herself.

“So long as one foot goes in front of the other and it happens quick enough and I’m fit enough, I’ll be doing it another while anyway.”

Just not today. “But hopefully they’ll win and we’ll all meet up in Kilkenny after.

“That would be perfect.”