Richie Hogan wasn't surprised that Kilkenny had to work hard to break down Waterford's defensive gameplan in Croke Park today.

Shortly after the final whistle was sounded in the Cats' 1-21 to 0-18 semi-final victory, the 2014 Hurler of the Year told RTE's 'The Sunday Game': "Yeah, we just tried to play our own game for a lot of it. I suppose everybody knows what kind of game Waterford play, they don't give away the ball.

"The tactic was just try not to give them the ball in the first place. We got the scores when we needed to and that allowed us to pull away in the end.

"We were maybe a bit anxious in the first-half. I hit a couple of bad wides, there were a few others times when lads had a bit of space, maybe a bit of composure would have been a better option. I think the goal was a big help, that gave us a bit of confidence and we didn't turn back from there.

"We were very conscious not to let them ahead, a young team, brilliant confidence, brilliant hurlers and very similar to the Waterford teams down through the years. We were anxious not to let them ahead because we knew we wouldn't get it back."

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