Former Kilkenny star Martin Comerford insisted that he and his O'Loughlin Gaels team-mates were unfazed by another characteristically slow start in their 3-17 to 0-17 win over Oulart-the-Ballagh in the semi-finals of the Leinster SHC at Wexford Park.
The Kilkenny champions trailed by 0-09 to 1-01 after 18 minutes, but Comerford and his colleagues have made a habit of winning games after slow starts.
“Throughout the year, in the Kilkenny Championship, we’ve started very sluggishly in most games,” the 38-year-old admitted.
“It wasn’t unlike us today to start sluggish.”
Mark Kelly and Mark Bergin grabbed important goals to put O'Loughlin Gaels back in the game, with Bergin’s three-pointer benefitted from a good slice of luck.
“In fairness to Mark Kelly, he got a fantastic goal,” Comerford told RTÉ Sport.
“He’s related to DJ Carey and it was DJ-esque, the way that he took it.
Of Bergin’s speculative effort, the towering forward said: “There was a touch of good fortune.
“He was obviously going for a point from long range and it was just landing beneath the crossbar and it just managed to go all the way to the net.
“It’s very disappointing for Oulart but we’ll take them any way they go.
“It was a fantastic boost for us.”
Comerford also shed light on the onerous task of emerging from the Kilkenny Championship.
“It’s very, very difficult to win the championship in Kilkenny,” he said.
“You start training in February and the way it works, you have to try and peak at two different occasions in the year.
“The five league matches you play are very, very important.
“They put you in a position to go straight through to a quarter-final, which we did this year. Then you have to peak again in late September/early October.
"It’s fantastic for me in the twilight of my hurling career to be representing Kilkenny in a Leinster club SHC.
"We're absolutely thrilled, it's a great performance."
