The last man to emerge from the Cork dressingroom was the most instantly recognisable. He stopped to sign jerseys and programmes before offering the remaining reporters a few words on the game.

It was the last thing Seán Óg Ó hAilpín wanted to be doing at 6.15pm yesterday. He would have been forgiven for emerging surrounded by a pack of other players. Or even using the two makeshift stitches above his right eye, which clearly needed further attention, as a valid excuse not to break stride. Or he could have just said "No".

Ó hAilpín is a different breed. He signs every child's memorabilia, is forthcoming with the media and shakes hands with an elderly Cork man - who he knows by name - long after his team-mates have disappeared into the players' lounge. His voice, although clear, is on the verge of breaking. When a man of such stature is struggling to talk, the pain must be unbearable. The lost quest for three-in-a-row is broached.

"One thing's for sure today, that three-in-a-row is over. I don't ever what to hear about three-in-a-row again. Of course it was a huge incentive for them. And if they were Kilkenny men they would have come out and stopped us - which they did. We would have done the same. We would have made it hard for them."

Ó hAilpín looked into his opponents' eyes yesterday and recognised the ravenous nature of the 2004 Cork team. This is what the rivalry between the kings of hurling is all about. "They were reminiscent of us two years ago when we were trying to stop them from three-in-a-row. You get the breaks of being a hungry fighter. We didn't get that today. To be honest, we were on the back foot all day. I'd be the first to congratulate Kilkenny. They were better than us in every department.

"Okay we made a bit of a fightback in the second half. We got a goal but the game was more or less over before that anyway.

"They were doing what we did to them two years ago in the second half. Literally. It was an exact mirror but it was the guys in black and amber who were doing it. What can you do? Kilkenny are worthy winners."

John Allen is equally magnanimous. Kilkenny are the first team in 13 championship outings to apply a methodology that conquered Cork's relentless short game. "There is no summing up really," starts Allen. "I have no doubt the team that performed better today is Kilkenny. They hunted better. They closed us down. They had a game plan. They stopped our midfield runners. They stood their midfielders in front of our half forward line for puck-outs. I don't think we can have any complaints. I think the team who wanted it most today won the game. That was Kilkenny.

"I didn't here a dissenting voice afterwards when we were standing around. People were genuinely coming up saying thanks for the four years, you've been fantastic champions."

Allen felt the inches between the immortality and being marked in the history books as "runners-up" ultimately came down to Aidan Fogarty's 29th-minute goal.

"We never pegged back the goal. They never really lost that three-point lead. I think Barry Kelly had quite a good game generally but the decision he made on Donal Óg (Cusack) passing the ball . . . from my eyes it wasn't a throw. Donal Óg wouldn't throw the ball anyway. That was a vital decision. We were three points down. It brought it to four with a very soft free from in front of the goals.

"But that's not - I'm not making excuses - the reason why we lost. We lost because we didn't play as well as Kilkenny."

Allen delayed making a decision on his future but the end-of-an-era phrase came up on several occasions last night. Then you remember Seán Óg echoing captain Pat Mulcahy's post-match team talk. "We're not going to let the last couple of years stop today. Drive on. I don't know who's staying on and who's not staying on. But we'll give it a good rattle next year and that's all you can do."