AHEAD of hurling’s Old Firm derby, Tommy Walsh has hailed his former team-mate Derek Lyng for ensuring Kilkenny remain a grand old team to play for.
Lyng had massive shoes to fill when he succeeded legendary boss Brian Cody for the 2023 season.
And while the gap to their 2015 Liam MacCarthy Cup triumph has yet to be bridged, the Cats have retained their place among the leading contenders.
Having been on the losing side against Limerick at the end of his first season in charge, Lyng is one victory away from another All-Ireland SHC decider.
He has also steered the black and amber to three successive Leinster titles as their provincial supremacy continued for a sixth year on the spin.
And Walsh has been encouraged by how Kilkenny avoided going into the type of freefall experienced by Manchester United following the departure of their own iconic gaffer.
The nine-time All-Ireland winner said: “Look, what do you want out of your hurling team? You want to be competing.
“That every year you go out, you have a chance and you hope that you’re going to be the All-Ireland champions come the end of July.
“We’ve seen it in Manchester United after Alex Ferguson.
“Manchester United have fallen away down to 17th in the table. And that was the worry that when Brian Cody left, would the same happen to maybe Kilkenny?
“It didn’t and Derek has kept us competing after winning six Leinsters now in a row and in All-Ireland finals, All-Ireland semi-finals every year.
“And with Limerick gone, it’s nearly a weight off every other team that’s left in the Championship that, ‘You know what?
“We can do it this year and we don’t have to produce this extraordinary performance to beat Limerick to go on and win an All-Ireland’.
“Now you’re nearly seeing every other team that’s left in the Championship as your equal.
“I think that was narrowed again even more so when your All-Ireland semi-final opponents are Tipperary, because I think whether that’s a qualifier, whether that’s an All-Ireland final, semi-final, I don’t think that matters.
“This is a derby. This is Celtic versus Rangers, Manchester United versus Manchester City, Liverpool versus Manchester United.”
Not since their 2019 All-Ireland final defeat have Kilkenny faced Tipperary in the Championship.
The recent winning of underage titles at the expense of their neighbours has helped the Premier to retain the bragging rights in the meantime.
But Tullaroan native Walsh, who grew up just a few kilometres from Tipp territory, hopes Lyng’s side can set the record straight tomorrow by advancing to the July 20 showpiece against Cork or Dublin.
SPLIT DECISION
The former Kilkenny star said: “I suppose both sides of the border would know exactly what’s going on in each other’s heads and you’re just praying that your team comes out the right side of it.
“Tipperary have done it in the All-Ireland minor final last year, they’ve done it in the All-Ireland Under-20 final this year, so we’re praying that maybe this time we’ll get the bit of luck and that we’ll get the right side of it.
“From our playing days, there’s nothing that prepares you for a derby.
“They’re ones you just have to live through the experience.”
The Cats’ Eoin Cody will make his long-awaited return tomorrow after a ten-week lay-off due to injury.
Tipp manager Liam Cahill has announced the same team that started their All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Galway.
KILKENNY: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, S Murphy; M Carey, R Reid, P Deegan; C Kenny, J Molloy; A Mullen, J Donnelly, B Ryan; M Keoghan, TJ Reid, E Cody. Subs: A Tallis, T Walsh, D Blanchfield, P Moylan, K Doyle, Z Bay-Hammond, F Mackessy, S Donnelly, L Hogan, L Connellan, B Drennan.
TIPPERARY: R Shelly; R Doyle, E Connolly, M Breen; C Morgan, R Maher, B O’Mara; W Connors, P McGarry; J Morris, A Ormond, S O’Farrell; D McCarthy, J McGrath, J Forde. Subs: B Hogan, J Caesar, S Kenneally, S Kennedy, B McGrath, N McGrath, O O’Donoghue, J Ryan, C Stakelum, D Stakelum, A Tynan.
l TOMMY WALSH is an ambassador for 24th annual Circet All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge. This year’s event, in aid of GAA-related charities, takes place at Killarney Golf and Fishing Resort on October 16 and 17.
