Derek Lyng accepted that Kilkenny were second best to Tipperary yesterday.

The new Cats boss was left to rue a poor first half performance as Tipp beat their great rivals at UPMC Nowlan Park for the first time since 2008.

"The first half was just disappointing. We stood off Tipperary. You can't do that with the hurlers that they have and the top teams and so for me we just have to be much tighter," Lyng said in an interview with RTÉ.

"We pushed up a lot more in the second half and you could see the improvement straight away.

"So we just have to get that balance right. You talk about shape and structure but you need to be up on your man. It's the basic stuff and as the second half went on, we did have chances. We didn't take them.

"But overall, we weren't good enough today and it's as simple as that and we have a lot of improvement to do."

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