Wexford captain Diarmuid 'Gizzy' Lyng admitted that winning promotion to Division 1 of the NHL last Sunday was a "huge relief" to the squad.

Lyng scored 0-7 in the Slaneysiders' 1-16 to 2-9 victory over Clare which secured promotion to the top flight for Colm Bonnar's charges at the second time of asking.

"It's a huge, huge relief," he said.

"It wasn't until Rory (Jacob) got the goal that we thought we might get through. When we went four points up in injury-time, we knew that was it. To be honest, there was major relief rather than the enjoyment of it or feeling anything else."

With so much at stake for both sides, Lyng wasn't surprised that the final was riddled with mistakes and unforced errors.

"There was huge tension getting ready for this game and you see that in the play. There was an awful lot of wides and scrappy play. We did well to create chances but we just probably didn't have the composure."

The St. Martin's clubamn said having to spend another year in Division 2 would have been unthinkable for Wexford.

"I know it's great for Carlow, Westmeath and Kildare to be playing the likes of Wexford, Limerick or Clare and Laois. But it is hard to try and ply your trade in the winter or spring against the Division 2 teams and then go up. All I want is a crack at the big sides," he added. Tweet

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