Allen: We couldn’t match their hunger or intensity”

AS gracious in defeat as he is in victory, Cork manager John Allen had no qualms about the result of yesterday’s All-Ireland SHC final, a result that robbed his side of three in a row.

“Bluntly, the best team won and I have no complaints,” he said.

“It would have been great to have made it three wins in a row, but over the entire game we couldn’t match their fanaticism or their hunger.

“You have to have both to win at this level. The team that performed better out there today and who wanted it most were Kilkenny, and all credit to them, they deserved it.

“They came with a game plan and it worked extremely well. They stopped our midfield runners, stood their own midfielders in front of our half-forward line for puck-outs and overall I don’t think we can have much complaint with the result.

“Standing around after the final whistle, I didn’t hear one dissenting voice. People were coming up and saying thanks for the four years and that: ‘ye have been fantastic champions and have given us many hours of pleasure.’

“I would also say there is no negativity with this team. This group of players have given everything. They have brought Cork hurling to where it is now, and I am very proud of every one of them, the backroom team as well, but in the final analysis we didn’t play well enough to win the game.”

Asked why Cork had failed given the experience they had gained over the last four years, Allen pointed to the brilliance of Kilkenny.

“We knew they were going to be good and they were very good. It’s just that, on the day, they wanted the title more than we did.

“They missed out on last year’s final and we had a great performance against them when we beat them the year before, so there was a hunger about their play which we couldn’t match. There has never been much between the counties in All-Ireland finals and today only a puck of a ball separated us again.”

Referring to the commitment necessary to win All-Ireland titles in the modern era, Allen said it was almost impossible to quantify.

“Cork have been contenders for the past four years and have put an enormous amount of work into it. A lot of science has gone in; a lot of professional people have helped and, given the system that there is now with a backdoor, there is no such thing as an easy team in the final, unlike in the past when some finals were a bit one -sided.

“The best teams invariably end up in the final now and that makes it so much harder for a team to win a title, never mind retaining their crown.”

Asked if there was ever a period in the game when he thought Cork could turn it around, Allen admitted: “No. We could never peg back the goal. It came at a very bad time in the game for us, and while we did managed to reduce the deficit to a point, Kilkenny always had the facility to go up-field and tag on a few more. We were playing catch-up for most of the game really.

“While I thought the referee Barry Kelly had, overall, an excellent match, I felt from where I was standing that he erred in penalising Donal Cusack for throwing the ball.

“He gave them a free straight in front of the posts which put four points between the sides and it proved too great a deficit to peg back. That was a vital decision to go against us, but look, I’m not making any excuses.

“That was not the reason we lost. We lost because we didn’t play as well as Kilkenny did. We couldn’t match their hunger or their intensity and good luck to them. ”

Asked about the future of some of his older players, Allen said that apart from Brian Corcoran and Pat Mulcahy the rest of the squad were still in their 20s and he expected them to be there again next.

As for himself?

“I’ll think about it over the coming weeks. There is a huge commitment involved and I need to discuss the matter with my wife and children.”