Kilkenny senior hurling team manager Derek Lyng.
By Cian O'Connell
Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng acknowledged his team weren't clinical enough converting chances in the opening period of Saturday evening's Allianz Hurling League Final against Clare.
An Aidan McCarthy goal near the interval altered the complexion of the match as Kilkenny were left to reflect on several missed opportunities.
The striped outfit registered 0-9 from 22 scoring attempts in the first half, with Clare striking 1-8 from 16.
Ultimately, Lyng felt Kilkenny should have converted more opportunities initially. “We should have, and that frustration can seep in," Lyng reflected.
"We kept fighting to the end and we’d be happy with that. You need to be taking those chances especially in big games like this. The last day we were clinical, today we weren’t."
Despite the loss to Clare, Lyng is adamant that Kilkenny will learn lessons from the defeat ahead of the Leinster Championship. “Absolutely, I thought we saw a good few players throughout the league, we got to the final and found out an awful lot about players," he added.
"Like I said, we have players to come back and we were within a puck of the ball at the end. So, there are plenty of positives to take from it."
Lyng believes that the Kilkenny panel has greater depth than at this stage in 2023. "I think so and they all performed very well," Lyng remarked.
"Today was another step up as well and they’ll take learning from that. Like, lads just don’t fall into a team and start winning all around them.
"It’s a learning process. We’ll learn from that. There are lads who maybe didn’t have the best of days today, but they’ll have better days for Kilkenny."