It’s a privilege to be with these guys and win Leinster: Cuala’s Mattie Kenny

The hurt of losing last year's provincial final drove Cuala to Leinster club SHC glory says the Dalkey outfit's manager Mattie Kenny following their masterclass against Kilkenny's O'Loughlin Gaels last Sunday.

Cuala now face Derry's Slaughtneil on Saturday, February 4 in their All-Ireland club semi-final.

"It's a year since we were in this position before and we came out very disappointed," says manager Mattie Kenny.

"Last year was a great journey until the Leinster final. We came back this time with the aim of winning the Dublin championship and then to have another crack at Leinster. The novelty of getting to the final in 2015 was no longer a novelty. Every game had to be won and that brought its own pressure.

"To win it was a great relief and a great honour. It's a privilege to be with these guys and win the Leinster championship.

"We have an ambitious bunch of players, but yet are very grounded. We encourage them to think just one game at a time," adds Mattie.

"We give every team the respect they deserve. We'll do our homework and prepare the best we can and won't fall into the trap of looking too far ahead."

“We were quite wasteful in the first half and I thought we were going to rue those chances,” adds Cuala forward David Treacy.

“I missed a couple of handy frees and we also missed a goal chance. If we had lost the match, I'm sure Mattie (Kenny) would have given me a hiding.

“The goals gave us a buffer and we managed to see it out towards the end. We had a five-point lead at the break and then at times had to sit deep to see it out. We knew O'Loughlin's, like any other Kilkenny team, were going to come at us.

“They did, but we were able to keep tapping over the points. We weren't forcing goals like we did in last year's final against Oulart.”