DEREK LYNG praised Kilkenny’s battling spirit as they came from behind in Ennis to defeat Clare in their league opener.
Having been behind all the way until the 58th minute, the Cats broke free thanks to a Gearóid Dunne point to take the lead for the first time.
Lyng’s charges then found an extra gear and held out for a deserved two-point advantage at the final whistle.
The victorious gaffer said: “It was a battling performance and that was the most pleasing part of it.
“They got a very good start but we kept at it.
“Obviously we made plenty of mistakes — but that’s all right this time of year and they are working their way through it.
“It was a very honest performance and we did just enough to get through it in the end.
“I thought we got a good impact off the bench too.”
All-Ireland champions and league holders Clare were the dominant force early on and found themselves 0-9 to 0-2 ahead by the 16th minute, with free-taker David Reidy claiming five of those early scores.
But four in a row for the visitors, through Billy Drennan — with two frees — Martin Keoghan and Billy Ryan got Kilkenny back into contention.
These sides last met in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final with the Banner coming out on top.
Yesterday, Kilkenny fielded nine of those who featured in Croke Park while the hosts started only five.
Clare’s teamsheet looked experimental due to injuries and a number of rested players, while Kilkenny had a little more settled look to their starting line-up.
By half-time, the Leinster champions reduced the deficit to just two points as Billy Drennan converted a 65 with the last play of the opening 35.
Scores from Keoghan and mid-fielder Peter McDonald had the sides tied three minutes into the second period.
As the half progressed, the teams were neck and neck with Clare claiming scores off lively corner-forward Shane Meehan, half-forward David Conroy and substitute Paddy Donnellan.
McDonald split the posts again while a pair of frees by Drennan and a score from play by Dunne had the Cats level at 0-16 apiece on 53 minutes.
Kilkenny’s Eoin Cody then seized the lead a minute later in a ding-dong battle.
Banner manager Brian Lohan introduced Keith Smyth into the attack and the young Killenena clubman fired over two fine points in succession to tie matters up once more with seven minutes remaining.
A cracking encounter then saw the hosts regain the lead through Seán Rynne and Cian Galvin but a tenacious Kilkenny replied with scores by Paddy Deegan, Keoghan, a Drennan free, Cody and substitute Luke Hogan.
From there, the Cats’ experience on the field saw them through.
Their half-back line, particularly after the interval, stormed into the game with wing-backs Mikey Carey and new recruit Fionán Mackessy impressing.
Cody and Keoghan up front began to exhibit their class and proved a handful for the Clare defence in a late and successful surge.
Lohan, whose led his men to the All-Ireland last year.
He said: “We want to win every game but you do also see your panel and see if you can get one or two players on top of the normal 17 or 18 that we have.
“That would be a bonus as well. In those big games when we look at last year, we used 23 players in the All-Ireland final, which was massive.
“We need to be getting up to that level.”
CLARE 0-21 KILKENNY 0-23
KILKENNY: A Tallis; M Butler, H Lawlor, S Murphy; M Carey 0-2, D Blanchfield, F Mackessy; P McDonald 0-2, J Molloy; M Keoghan 0-4, C Kenny 0-1, P Deegan 0-1; B Drennan 0-7, 6f, 1 65, E Cody 0-2, B Ryan 0-1. Subs: G Dunne 0-1 or Molloy 43 mins, L Hogan 0-2 for Kenny 50, L Connellan or Ryan 59, B Hammond for Mackessy inj 64.
CLARE: E Quilligan; I McNamara, D Lohan, C Leen; J O’Neill, D McInerney, C Galvin 0-1; R Taylor, C Malone; P Crotty, D Conroy 0-3, S Rynne 0-2; S Meehan 0-2, A Shanagher 0-1, D Reidy 0-8, 7f. Subs: Ross Hayes or McInerney inj 35 mins, P Donnellan 0-2 for Taylor 43, K Smyth 0-2 for Shanagher 50, Rory Hayes for Crotty 55, J Connealy for Leen inj 51.
REFEREE: S Hynes (Galway)
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