Cody refuses to play same game as the rest of us

Brian Cody refused to play the game. So enveloped was Cody in cajoling Kilkenny to an eighth Leinster title in the nine years he has walked the line, he failed to notice how abysmal was the contest that had unfolded before 44,081 people in Croke Park.

Straight-up man that he is, Cody paid Wexford their due respect and explained without a shred of pretence that all that concerned him was keeping hold of the O'Keeffe Cup. Also, 23 points against a respected defence pleased him.

But surely he saw the same drab affair on the line that was witnessed from the upper Hogan Stand.

Coming off the field, the Kilkenny players looked almost apologetic. Almost. The county board officials mumbled agreement with what had just transpired. Cody, though, refused to play the game. Well, certainly not by anyone else's rules.

"Absolutely delighted I've won the game. What the game was like as a spectacle I presume is what you are referring to. I don't know. I have no idea obviously because when you are down there you just haven't a clue.

"I would reckon 1-23 would be a decent score any day of the week, playing against a team like Wexford, whose backs - you said yourselves - are outstanding, can't be too bad. What you thought of it I don't know."

When queried about how Kilkenny can improve against a battle-hardened qualifier county in the quarter-finals, especially considering the high-scoring game between Waterford and Galway yesterday, Cody's interests perked up momentarily.

"Who won?"

Waterford won it by two points.

"Right, right."

We were witnessing a pure hurling brain ticking over. The tape recorders were ticking over too. But he kept his counsel, denying an insight into the Cody that lives behind the dressingroom door.

Eventually, the hard exterior broke, but instead of a revelation about the Kilkenny hurlers, he defended the game he loves.

"I just get a serious impression from yourselves that you didn't think much of the match. But you are getting paid to look at it. That's not too bad.

"I can only presume you would be critical of both teams if the game didn't live up to your expectations or hopes. And it's fashionable now to knock the game of hurling and knock the quality of the standard that is out there all of the year. It goes like that. I don't know what you were expecting, but we would have to work really hard to beat Wexford. And we did beat them. Our agendas are slightly different I would imagine."

Down the corridor, a slightly more downbeat Séamus Murphy was asked to explain yet another Wexford collapse. One reason offered is he has yet to field a full team in a championship match - Darragh Ryan and Dessie Mythen being two obvious absentees yesterday.

"Hopefully, if we can get the conveyor belt going again we can make an All-Ireland semi-final. We have been very unlucky with injuries since I got involved, in championship hurling anyway. We can hopefully get a rub of the green in that regard."

Séamus, first half wides . . .

"Nine or 10, it's terrible," he interjected. "Against a side like Kilkenny you cannot afford to do that. They might drive nine or 10 and still beat you, but you have to take those opportunities.

"Nine times out of 10 Damien (Fitzhenry) would score the penalty. You could see from the time he rose it, it went too far ahead of him and he only put it over the bar. All those things could have put us in a better position by half-time.

"The championship season is not over for us yet and we will just have to get down and concentrate on a quarter-final."