Carlow hurling boss Kevin Ryan admits he gave his players as earful at half time in the Ring Cup semi-final replay win over Kerry. The Barrowsiders trailed by 1-8 to 1-5 at the interval in Tralee on Saturday and looked on course for defeat until the management intervened with some motivating words: "A few strong words were spoken alright," admits Ryan. "The lads were despondent. That first-half performance was unacceptable, particularly around midfield and the half-forward areas. "As one of them said: 'we were disgusted with ourselves'. "The few points before half time hauled us back into it and, even before we got the early second-half goal, I knew by the lads' body language that the attitude was completely different." Tweet

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