Gavin Cummiskeytalks to the Kilkenny midfielder going for his fourth medal.

Forget what's gone before (Limerick have). Kilkenny's season so far can be defined by two moments in particular.

The league final defeat to Waterford made them mad, and the first hour of the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway brought them to the required intensity - something Offaly and Wexford failed to match.

"I suppose in the league final we were beaten by Waterford in the last few minutes," says midfielder Derek Lyng. "You would be hoping you would finish stronger. That obviously was a disappointing day. It refocused us going back into the championship.

"We have been going along nicely. The results so far I think have been fairly good. I'm hoping, going into the final, we can up it a notch or two. We'll have to really. If we don't, I don't think we'll be at the races."

The Galway manager Ger Loughnane had an opinion on it all after his new team were blitzed in the final quarter: "I think that game will win the All-Ireland for Kilkenny . . . we made a great effort at it but Kilkenny were the better team, stronger and more physical.

"I felt we had Kilkenny well rattled at times, but at other times we were just hanging in there."

That day in late July showed the mark of this Kilkenny team. JJ Delaney was replaced. Henry Shefflin was held scoreless from play. In such a scenario down through the years one of the less-feted of Kilkenny's gladiators has invariably taken up the cudgel. In the 2003 final it was a young Martin Comerford; in last season's final it was Aidan Fogarty; against Galway it was 2-3 from Eddie Brennan that broke the Tribesmen's brave resistance.

Lyng also rattled off two scores in the 3-22 to 1-18 victory. Before the floodgates opened, it had been 1-18 apiece.

"In the Galway match I remember Noel Hickey intercepting Damien Hayes," says Lyng. "Otherwise Damien would have been through for a goal. From that there we got our goal. A game really can change . . . Eddie got the breaking ball and we got a goal. We drove on from there.

"It definitely gave us great confidence, certainly brought us on a bit."

Lyng doesn't know where his three All-Ireland medals are. Ask the mother. But does he ever stop to reflect on the fact he is part one of the great teams of any era?

"Not really. When you're a player you're always looking to the next match. As a player if you start sitting down and patting yourself on the back I think your ambition wanes a little bit. If we get over Limerick and we win . . . maybe over the winter months you might look back and say it's been a great couple of years."

Lyng is keenly aware the mantle of champions is often just one game away from being shredded. Unlike last year's Sunday in September, it is Kilkenny who arrive next Sunday as clear favourites.

"There's no point in saying it is the same every year. Last year we had the incentive going in against Cork. People talk about revenge and you say there is not but there is always a little bit of that in your head . . ."

Of course if it's incentive they need, Limerick can dip into all those defeats by Kilkenny down through the decades.

Derek Lyng

Age: 27

Height: 6ft

Weight: 13st 5lb

Occupation: Medical rep with GlaxoSmithKline

Honours: 3 All-Ireland SHC medals, 1 All-Ireland under-21 medal, 6 Leinster medals, 1 Fitzgibbon Cup, 3 Railway Cup medals, 2 All Stars