Kilkenny's Padraig Walsh admits Clare were "fully deserving" victors in Sunday's national hurling league semi-final.

The Banner County blazed through to the final with a facile victory over the reigning All-Ireland champions and Walsh was offering up no excuses afterwards when he told The Irish Times:

"Of course you'd be disappointed to lose, no matter what margin, but I think Clare were definitely the hungrier team, and we were just a little off the pace. We wouldn't be overly worried though, it's just a reminder of how much work we have to do before the championship, if we're serious about winning another All-Ireland.

"Clare were that bit sharper on the day, and we just gave them too much of a head start in the first half. We did hit back in the second half and I think got a bit more momentum but once they got the fourth goal that was it, really.

"They're a quality team, this Clare team, and I suppose it has been a while since we were opened up like that. We did maybe push forward a little more in the second half but that wasn't a deliberate tactic. We just needed to find more scores. It shows as well that there's very little between the top teams and that any of us can beat each other on the day.

"We'll go back to the clubs now for a week and then get back for the championship but we certainly won't be making any excuses. It's not like we had many debutants on Sunday. It's just Clare were the better team on the day and were fully deserving of the win."

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