Loss of NHL crown to motivate Cats

THE loss of their NHL crown will help spur Kilkenny to retain their All-Ireland SHC title according to manager Brian Cody.

Though the Cats defeated Dublin by nine points in their concluding Division 1A group game at Nowlan Park, results elsewhere ended hopes of promotion to the second phase.

However, Cody was putting a brave face on the situation, preferring to concentrate on the championship, and the Cats bid for a third consecutive title.

“Of course I’m disappointed, and the players are too, but the losing of our league title is not the end of the world by any means and we’ll keep going,” he stressed.

“I’m very happy with the effort against Dublin even if the result ultimately fell short of requirements. I would settle for beating Dublin by nine points most days.”

The champions suffered opening round defeats to Waterford and Galway, results which proved crucial according to the manager.

“We were always playing catch-up after that, but credit the players with giving their all in trying to recover that lost ground,” he said.

Nevertheless, he insisted that the mindset is right for their tilt at Leinster and All-Ireland honours.

Cody said: “For any manager, that has to be good and I have no fears about how they will react when the championship comes round.”

To compound matters, DJ Carey sustained a nasty elbow injury in an incident which resulted in a second yellow card for Dublin defender Keith Wilson.

“We can only hope that DJ won’t be sidelined for too long, but clearly he is not going to be available to us for a while,” said Cody.

Meanwhile Dublin manager Humphrey Kelleher was bullish about his side’s performance.

“We stood up to the best team in the country, we have a long-term plan, and it is my aim that we will stick to it,” said the former Waterford goalkeeper.