Cody: the better team won

Dermot Keyes reports

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody readily conceded that ‘the better team won’ at Walsh Park, but he’ll be doubly keen to see the Cats getting back on track come Sunday next when they host Tipperary.
“Waterford deserved to win the game, there’s no doubt about that – they could have won by more – they had a lot of wides that I’m sure they’d be disappointed with. But we fought away, it was our first game (of 2016) and we didn’t expect to come down to Waterford and play a very good team and just pick up the pieces and be good enough to beat them. It’s our first game back and that’s it. The effort was decent and we’ve got to get ready for the next game, and they’ll be coming fairly thick and fast.”
Sunday last, Cody felt was more a question of his men “hanging in” as opposed to pressing on, a fair assessment given how much territory and possession Waterford enjoyed.
“If their shooting had been a bit more clinical, then we would have had a much more difficult battle. But we stayed with it and from a physical preparation point of view we haven’t a lot done, but I’m not making excuses: the better team won and that’s it. Of course we’re disappointed not to have got the two points but we’ll work ahead.”
Waterford, said Cody, had more match fitness, “but they were better than us, it’s as simple as that, in probably most aspects of the game. We were obviously coming down to win the game…but every game in the League now is a huge battle; Tipperary had a huge win last (Saturday) night and next weekend is going to be at least as difficult again.”
As for Colin Fennelly’s late sending off, Cody commented: “I was a long way away from it – I thought he actually hit him a shoulder; I didn’t actually see it, I’ll see it later on, but I thought he just hit him a shot with his body, which I couldn’t say for certain…but look it, he got a second yellow and that’s it.”
Match fitness at this time of year, said the Kilkenny boss, “is massive”, and he’s keen to get back to winning ways against Tipperary. “We’d love to win the League and we can’t do that if we’re dragged into a relegation dogfight, but the battle is on now and every game that’s coming up is going to be difficult.”