Young Cats shake off rust to start Lyng era with win
Cillian Buckely of Kilkenny in action against Brian Duignan of Offaly during the Walsh Cup Group 2 Round 1 match between Kilkenny and Offaly at John Locke Park in Callan, Kilkenny. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The Derek Lyng era began with a win as a fresh-faced Kilkenny withstood a tough Offaly challenge to start their Walsh Cup campaign in a positive fashion.
Goals in either half from Ian Byrne and Tom Phelan, plus an impressive nine-point haul from newcomer Billy Drennan, did most of the damage, but the Cats had to hang tough at times as Johnny Kelly’s side threatened to spoil Lyng’s first day in charge.
“There was some good and bad in that game,” Lyng said in the aftermath of Sunday’s encounter at John Locke Park, Callan. “We can be happy with the performance - the effort was really good. You could see a little rustiness there, but the players were trying to do the right thing every time. We accept there are going to be mistakes, but the effort was very good. I thought Offaly were moving well, so it was a good challenge.”
Led by Drennan, Kilkenny opened brightly and were 0-6 to 0-2 up inside 12 minutes, the former under-20 star chipping in with four of the Cats’ salvo. Offaly had been slow to get going in attack, but could have made Kilkenny pay when a stray defensive pass was seized on by John Murphy, but his shot was well saved by Darren Brennan, while Paddy Clancy could only force the rebound wide.
They were left to rue that miss when Kilkenny grabbed their opening goal in the 15th minute, Ian Byrne’s shot evading the grasp of ’keeper Eamonn Clearly before ending up in the net.
Despite this, the Faithful County clawed their way back into the game. A string of points from Cillian Kiely (4), David Nally (2) and Brian Duignan to close to within four points at the interval (1-11 to 0-10).
Offaly were sharper from the off after the restart. The freetaking skills of Cillian Kiely shone as he hit four in succession to cancel out a single long range Niall Brennan point for the Cats, before midfielder Ross Ravenhill’s point had the sides all square by the 45th minute (0-15 to 1-12).
Kilkenny were under significant pressure at this stage, but could call upon the likes of Padraig Walsh and Young Hurler of the Year Mikey Butler to help steady the ship. With good scores from Padraic Moylan and Timmy Clifford helping their cause they pulled away from Offaly again, cementing their advantage when sub Tom Phelan raced on to a Paddy Deegan pass and drilled an unstoppable shot to the net with 58 minutes on the clock (2-17 to 0-18).
“We tired at stages and went out of the game at times, but that’s to be expected at this time of year,” said Lyng. “We’ll build on this in the coming weeks - we want to have a competitive panel by the time the League rolls around.”
B Drennan (0-9, 0-5 frees, 0-1 65); I Byrne, T Phelan (1-0 each); J Donnelly, B Sheehan, N Brennan (0-2 each); C Heary, P Moylan, A Murphy, T Clifford (0-1 each).
C Kiely (0-13, 0-11 frees); D Nally (0-4, 0-2 frees); J Murphy, R Ravenhill, C Mitchell, B Duignan (0-1 each).
: D Brennan; N Rowe, H Lawlor, N Mullins; C Heary, C Buckley, D Dunne; D Blanchfield, P McDonald; E Landy, J Donnelly, P Deegan; I Byrne, B Drennan, B Sheehan. Subs: P Moylan, P Walsh, E Cody, N Brennan, A Murphy, M Butler, T Clifford.
E Cleary; P Cantwell, C Burke, J Nally; D King, J Sampson, K Sampson; R Ravenhill, P Delaney; D Nally, C Kelly; J Screeney; B Duignan, P Clancy, J Murphy. Subs: S Corcoran, O Kelly, D Maher, S Dooley, A Cleary, J Clancy, J Keenaghan.
C Daly (Kildare).
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