Derek Lyng was left to rue Kilkenny’s inability to ‘kick on’ after Billy Ryan’s goal 47th minute goal against Clare.

The goal propelled the Leinster champions into a six-point lead, but they failed to score in the last 15 minutes as the Banner stormed back to win by two and reach the All-Ireland SHC final.

"We were in a strong position when we got the second goal. We didn't kick on when we should have," Lyng lamented.

"We tried making a few changes to get a spark back into us, but the momentum was with Clare. The reality of it is that they won all the battles. That was my feeling on it. They were attacking it better, in front of the man, and when they were winning all the battles around the pitch, we struggled on the back of that. They deserved it in the second half."

The Kilkenny manager continued: "It's disappointing. In fairness to the players, they never stopped trying. As always, their effort was outstanding. But it's a tough one because I felt we were in a really strong position and we didn't see it out.

“We didn't play well enough. Even though we were six points ahead, I thought there were aspects of our play that were still a little bit off. So that's a little bit disappointing.”

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