BRIAN CODY'S reaction to Kilkenny winning their 10th Leinster hurling title in 11 years was to keep his hands in his pockets and not show a glimpse of emotion. If this isn't an indication of a man with all eyes on the ultimate prize then maybe Cody does have us all fooled.

Cody specialises in the art of deflecting all grandeur and praise, repeatedly talking up the opposition while playing down the performance of his own team, and he was at his best yesterday. Truth is Wexford did put it up to them in the first half, but at no stage did they actually look like winners.

"At half-time, there was nothing in it. But it's the scoreboard at the end that matters," began Cody. "The expectation was there that we'd blitz Wexford. It doesn't happen that way. I wasn't even slightly surprised by what was happening in the first half.

"I know the general perception coming up here was that this would be an easy game for Kilkenny. It was never my perception. It was as tough a battle as we'd get from any team in the country, for that whole first half. Okay, we won convincingly in the end, but we had to be very competitive to stay in the game in the first half. We got serious questions asked of us by Wexford.

"We planned to play the game as strong as we could for the full game. It's about weathering storms, surviving, hanging in there. You can't legislate for how games will go. Obviously goals do have a big influence on any game, and we got good goals in the second half. Eddie's first goal . . . I've no idea how he got it. It was a superb, individual goal, in such a tight situation. That made it hard on Wexford, obviously, and we did drive on from there."

The result of this is a five-week break before the All-Ireland semi-final - and at least Cody was honest about that: "Up to a couple of years ago we often waited six weeks for an All-Ireland semi-final. But I'd have no problem waiting 10 weeks for an All-Ireland semi-final. Because that's where we want to be."

For Eoin Larkin, who as recently as last April was completing a six-month tour of duty in Kosovo, the semi-final is just the next step in capturing that elusive third All-Ireland.

"It's a massive thing, and something we have spoken about. Four steps, to maybe three in a row. And we're over two of them now. Two to go. It would be a massive thing for Kilkenny. We're not avoiding it. That's the reality. But we have to win an All-Ireland semi-final just to get that far."

Wexford manager John Meyler, as usual, put his heart and soul into getting his team right on the day, and you could see that in his face afterwards, as he loosely compared the second half to a train wreck.

"It's hard, it's difficult, but I was really thrilled with the guys at half-time," he said. "They'd shown great character, great work-rate and great composure. That's what I expected, and that's what I got. But then we got hit by a train in the second half.

"They just opened us up, took us on, and got a couple of great scores. But I'm constantly saying that is a fantastic hurling team. A team of artists, of physical athletes, of strength, and we didn't compete in the second half.

"If we can maintain for 70 minutes the way we did for the first 35, then we can compete. We stayed with them, we fought with them, for 35 minutes, but then bang, bang, the game was over. We needed to settle in the second half, but they got the scores. But we're not at that level yet.

"They're at a peak over the last 10 years, the Shefflins and that. They're used to that physical intensity, having played in the last three or four All-Irelands. And we're not. And it goes back as well to the point about winning minors and winning under-21s. Every one of them has done that. And they are a superb team. I take my hat off to them.

"But I don't fear them. I never fear them. We have to keep going. If I can convert that 35 minutes to 70, well then we can compete. But that's the difficult ask. We've to get it up to 55 or 60 first."

Defender Michael Jacob echoed those sentiments, that Wexford don't fear Kilkenny, but they've some ways to go yet before they beat them again: "If you look at the last eight or nine years, there are only three teams that have beaten Kilkenny, and we're one of them. We had a belief that we'd a good chance today if we hurled to our best. And we did that for 35 minutes. We lost our shape after that, and once Kilkenny get a couple of goals, every team would find it hard to pull them back.

"But we'll take some positives out of today. It's still a young team. It will take a bit of time."