KILKENNY MATCH REACTION:IT'S BEEN a feature of post-match Kilkenny press conferences for five years that there's rarely been anything negative to discuss. With the pursuit of an unparalleled five All-Irelands in a row still emphatically on track with just one hurdle to go and the county's greatest traditional rivals imperiously dismissed, manager Brian Cody did, however, on this occasion have something to worry about.
The team’s most totemic presence Henry Shefflin had to be replaced before half-time with a knee injury and centre back Brian Hogan even earlier.
“It’s a worry alright,” said Cody. “Neither of them would go off easily. We’re hoping things aren’t as bad as they seemed. Things have to be assessed obviously over the next couple of days. They’re serious players and it’s only a few weeks until the All-Ireland, so we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure they are fit. Brian’s shoulder and Henry’s knee. That’s the only information that we have at the moment.”
As fate takes though, it also gives and the performance of the team was virtually unaffected despite these upsets. Cork’s appetite to disrupt Kilkenny’s march on history proved insignificant compared to the ravening hunger displayed by the champions and the performance of the replacements.
“If you’ve only a team of 15 players you’re going to go nowhere very, very quickly,” according to the manager. “You have to have a panel and I would have a natural belief in the players. If any player gets injured it’s a killer on that player and I feel terrible sympathy for that player. But someone comes in and takes up the position and just plays for the team.
“You can never be the other fella, so just get in and be yourself and do your job for the team.”
One of the panellists called on yesterday was former Young Hurler of the Year James “Cha” Fitzpatrick, who had a terrific match coming in for the injured Michael Rice.
“Brian would say keep working hard on the pitch and the hurling will flow,” said Fitzpatrick. “I suppose once Eddie Brennan and Aidan Fogarty got the goals we drove it on from there but we weren’t looking at the scoreboard until the end of the game.”
Cody was asked did he believe that the pressure to win five was less than that 12 months ago to equal Cork’s 1940s record of four-in-a-row.
“I don’t know to be honest. I feel the same, myself. You go out and play as well as you possibly can. Sometimes it will flow to an extent, other times it won’t flow. I thought the first-half performance today was very good.
“There’s only one day that matters now and it’s in a few weeks time. That’s the day to be right.
“We’ll look forward to next Sunday’s semi-final now. It’s one of the nicest games you could ever go to, the second All-Ireland semi-final after winning the first one. You know you’re in the All-Ireland then and Waterford against Tipperary next Sunday should be a fantastic game. We’ll look forward to that game and then get ready to face the winners.”
