Amidst the bedlam after the final whistle Derek Lyng and Henry Shefflin shared a brief but respectful handshake. They both have a bundle of Leinster medals at home, many won as team-mates in black and amber, but they are on different paths right now.
This was Lyng’s first dance as manager of a Kilkenny team in a Leinster senior final, while Shefflin had watched his Galway side lose to his native county last year. If the meetings between the counties in 2022 were somewhat overshadowed by handshakes, there was never any chance of a repeat between Lyng and Shefflin.
“Not a whole lot you can say,” responded Lyng when asked what he had said to Shefflin post-match. “I mean, if I was on the end of that, look, you are sick, you are totally deflated. We will probably cross paths again. It’s relief for us, we are on the right side of it, and it is a fantastic feeling. I wouldn’t like to be on the other side of it either.”
Shefflin declined to speak with the written press afterwards, but he did try to sum up his feelings to Galway Bay FM.
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“It was the cruellest manner to lose it. I’ve just been in the dressingroom there now and it’s been devastating, so there’s probably not many words we can say. Obviously the most disappointing thing is we don’t have the silverware here. I’m not going to be a fool and say, ‘yeah, no problem, we’ll jump out of this.’
“This is going to take a couple of days to get out of the system, and I said that to the players – go with it, you don’t just move on straight away.”
The final whistle sparked celebrations we have not seen from Kilkenny on provincial final day for quite some time.
“I think relief is the right word,” said Lyng. “I’m just really happy for the group. I thought we deserved something out of the game, I thought it would have been hard luck to lose it. I’m particularly delighted for some of the subs that came in and had a big impact. Cillian Buckley, I’m delighted for him personally because he’s just so dedicated to the game and is a leader within the group, and it’s a great way for him to finish off that Leinster final.”
It looked a lost cause they were chasing in the dying embers of the game, but the Kilkenny players simply refused to accept the script that had been tossed in front of them.
“How many teams would give up there? We kept going and we got the ball across and fair play to Cillian, he took it on and took responsibility and that’s what we’ve been saying to the players all year,” said Lyng.
“I still had hope and I just felt we were going to get another chance. When the ball is played across, we knew if it was saved it is game over.”
Kilkenny are now through to the All-Ireland semi-finals, and will fancy their chances of advancing to another decider.
“It gives even the lads that are injured an opportunity as well. It drives them on for the next couple of weeks,” said Lyng. “The morale, the spirit in the group is going to be even better after today. We’re all looking forward to the next few weeks.”
