One of the first things Derek Lyng emphasised when taking over from Brian Cody was that comparison would be futile. If he’d fretted at all about Cody’s achievements he wouldn’t have gone anywhere near the job.
Only there might be some consolation in this one: Cody also lost his first All-Ireland final as Kilkenny manager, to Cork in 1999, before coming back the following year to win his first of 11. In Kilkenny there is always hope.
There was certainly hope and ample belief they could win this one, up 2-10 to 0-11 after Paddy Deegan fired in the second goal on 41 minutes: from there to the end Limerick outscored them 19 points to five – a proper dam-busting display which, Lyng acknowledged, was nigh impossible to stop.
“Not enjoyable anyway,” Lyng said of that endgame experience. “You’re trying to look at making a few changes, see can you stop the momentum in some shape or fashion . . . it’s difficult. We just didn’t do enough, around that time, maybe a score or two to stop it.
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“It’s hard to combat, and that’s when the wind comes into play. We didn’t win the toss, but as the game goes on, and bodies start to tire, you’re shooting out the field, and that’s when you want the wind. That’s no excuse by the way, we just weren’t good enough. But it would have helped.”
Indeed once Limerick sniffed that four-in-a-row, the result was never in doubt, their nine-point margin a measure of their brilliance as much as their sheer intention to make absolutely sure of it.
“I felt a few of the 50-50 calls probably went Limerick’s way, when we needed them,” added Lyng. “We needed everything. But when they get a run on you, they’re very, very difficult to stop. But I can’t fault our players, they never gave up, kept on trying.
“Look, they’re a fantastic team. They will always come at you, and I was expecting that to happen. One or two scores around that time might have stopped that momentum. But very easy to say that, because we found it very, very difficult.”
Even after Deegan’s goal, putting Kilkenny five points up, Lyng always expected Limerick to raise their game.
“It’s hard to maintain that, Limerick are such a strong, physical team, and you could see some of our players tiring in the second half, and we just had to re-jig a few things around. I think nine points, in the end, is harsh on us. Our lads fronted up, it just wasn’t good enough.
“I thought for a long time we made it a really good battle out there, but when they get that momentum, it’s not as if we were cut open at all. But those scores from out the field were outrageous scores, fantastic scores. And sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it.
“It doesn’t look like they’re getting any weaker to me. They’re going to take stopping again, no question about it. We just have to keep driving forward, that’s all we can do.”
