KILKENNY boss Derek Lyng hailed hero Huw Lawlor as the Cats romped to SIX Leinster titles in a row.
Lawlor produced a performance for the ages as they bagged Bob O’Keeffe against Galway at Croke Park.
The O’Loughlin Gaels clubman halted countless Tribes attacks and was the launchpad for the Cats to score at the other end.
Goals from Mossy Keoghan in each half and one from stalwart TJ Reid, 37, booked Kilkenny’s seventh All-Ireland semi-final in a row.
Lyng gushed at Lawlor’s heroics and saluted their overall performance as they finished with 10 different scorers.
He said: “He was excellent, and it gives a lift to everybody around him as well, that confidence that you have in a full back.
“It’s brilliant. It’s a brilliant skill to have – somebody that can attack the ball and just pluck it from the sky like that.
“I thought overall the effort, not just from Hugh, from everybody that was involved was excellent.
“I thought our work rate was very good, and maybe it dipped a little bit there, but I thought a bit of resilience there to take back the game under our control near the end was very positive as well.”
But Lyng knows they were far from their best yesterday – with huge tests to come. Kilkenny fired 11 wides in the game, and eight of those were in the first half alone.
They led by 13 points but a 1-6 Galway flurry without reply decimated their lead to four, before Keoghan lashed in their third goal.
And he hopes they can find the gear they need to land their first All-Ireland in a decade ahead of the semis on July 5/6.
He said: “We’re Leinster champions, and that was the objective, but at the same time, we know we’ve a lot of work to do.
“I think it’s probably taken for granted that we’re going to go out and win these games, but a huge amount of work goes into it, particularly from the players.
“They do it all, and we’ve been working very hard at that. We’ve been tested in different games, at different stages.
“We lost to Wexford, and Dublin we would have been disappointed with a spell in that game as well, and likewise today.
“So, regardless of who we were playing, we know we’re going to have to find another gear or two for the next day, and that’s the reality of it.
“But that’s something we’ll go after, and we’re looking forward to that, but we took this campaign very seriously and we got our reward today.”
TRIBE WOES
Meanwhile Galway boss Micheál Donoghue cursed their luck – and their failure to score from play for 25 minutes in the second half.
Cathal Mannion’s frees were all they could manage until their late revival thanks to Brian Concannon’s goal.
And Donoghue knows the Cats were a class apart as they head into an All-Ireland quarter-final against Laois or Tipperary.
He said: “I think from our point of view, in terms of the way we wanted to play, we just didn’t from the start of the game. You have to give all the credit to Kilkenny, they showed the great experience that they have.
“When we did get it going and working it through the lines, we were better. Look, we have huge belief and trust in the group.
“The disappointing thing is when you see what they did do for a 10-minute, 12-minute period in the game, that’s the positives we’re taking out of and that’s what we’ll try and build on as we move forward.”
