Kenneally laments Rebels poor start
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TEAM coach Pat Kenneally said that Cork's poor start had a vital bearing on the outcome and he also felt the dismissal of Kevin Hartnett made it easier for Kilkenny to hold out in the closing stages. " We went into the match as underdogs, and I suppose we needed a lot of things to go right for us on the night. But Kilkenny went five points up before we got going at all which more or less negated the wind advantage we enjoyed in the first half.
"After a tough struggle, we were just a point behind at half-time and we pulled that back quickly in the second half, but the sending-off near the end was a big blow. We were still in contention until Kilkenny got their second goal, but the reality is that when you are chasing a game and the opposition has an extraman at the back, it makes it very much an uphill battle," he noted.
Accepting that Kilkenny were the form team, Kenneally made the point that Cork needed a lot to go right for them, and he suggested the breaks just didn't fall their way. "Kilkenny got an early goal, and we had battled back to go ahead by a point when their 'keeper brought off a great save.
"Maybe you could say that they made better use of their chances, but we certainly didn't get the rub of the green at different stages, and I would imagine the ref didn't do us too many favours either. But I'm very proud of the lads, they put up a great fight, and it would have been a hectic finish if we had 15 players on for the full game.
"I suppose when you look back on it, we had a good campaign with a new team from last year, but right now we aren't thinking along those lines after losing an All Ireland final. We came up here to win tonight, we didn't succeed, and that's disappointing no matter what way you shake it up, although possibly in a day or two it might be easier to reflect on the season and say that we didn't do badly."
- Noel Horgan
