Kilkenny captain Paddy Deegan was a bit dismissive of those who doubted the side's credentials in advance of their Leinster final victory, stating they were not given the respect they deserved.
Deegan climbed the Hogan Stand to lift the Bob O'Keeffe cup after the Cats swept Dublin aside at Croke Park, for what was a 76th provincial success for the Black and Amber.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, the O'Loughlin Gaels clubman was in bullish mood, when saying: "There is a massive drive there; our ambition is an All-Ireland and we know we are a very good team."
Crucially, he added: "I don't think we were given the respect in the last few weeks, even coming into this match, we weren't given respect. That probably adds a bit of chip to the shoulder."
.@KilkennyCLG captain Paddy Deegan felt the side "weren't given the respect the deserve" in advance of their emphatic win over Dublin #rtegaa #leinsterhurling #hurling pic.twitter.com/E7iGvZbKjQ
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 8, 2024
In spite of Deegan's remarks, Kilkenny did not hit the heights we expect of them when topping the Leinster round-robin group, though manager Derek Lyng felt his troops had it in them to up it with silverware at stake on Jones' Road.
Assessing his side's comfortable victory, he remarked: "We closed down Dublin really well; our workrate all over the pitch was pretty good. We were efficient and our use of the ball was good. I felt it was performance that had been coming and we got things right for the majority of the game. I was really pleased with that.
"It was good performance today but we need to improve again [for the All-Ireland semi-final]."
"The performance had been coming" - the thoughts of @KilkennyCLG manager after their clinical dismissal of Dublin in the provincial decider #rtegaa #gaa #hurling #leinsterhurling pic.twitter.com/L67U1E4GNW
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 8, 2024
Effort and workrate are the trademarks of any successful team, with skipper Deegan saying the Cats had that in abundance against the Dubs.
"That's what got us over the line. We racked up a big score but that led to the scores being got.
"When the ball is turned over and we put it over the bar at the other end, that's a two-point swing, and it's a big emphasis in training and in matches.
"The narrative in Kilkenny is that we go long a lot but I've mentioned it before that there are plenty of good hurlers, so we can mix it up either way."
