Relieved Cody ‘baffled’ at free count

DELIGHTED. Relieved. Happy. But also baffled.

Brian Cody was feeling a lot following yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final win.

Sure, he was elated to have reached a sixth consecutive September showdown.

“There’s one prize and one prize only and that’s achieved,” he said.

“We’re very happy, the alternative is serious disappointment, so we’re going home very happy.”

Yet Cody couldn’t help thinking Kilkenny had done it with little or no help from referee Barry Kelly.

For over 70 minutes, the Cats were awarded just six frees compared to Waterford’s 14. It left Cody bemused.

“How many were Waterford awarded?” asked Cody before being told they were given 14.

“It sounded like that, it felt like that on the sideline. It’s baffling, baffling.”

Asked if he was disappointed by the contrast in frees, Cody responded: “Baffled, confused, bewildered, can I go further? I never criticise referees.”

Kilkenny might have split the posts 19 times but they also missed them on 17 occasions, though Cody wasn’t too perturbed by that statistic.

“That’s three more than Waterford had frees... I don’t worry too much about wides.

“You’d love to see them going over the bar but the creation of chances is hugely important. We could have done more with that possession but that’s something that can be improved.”

Cody knows there’s plenty to work on before September 4. The difference on the scoreboard at the end was six points but he felt his team were never able to shake Waterford off entirely.

He continued: “We weren’t comfortable at any stage. With 10 minutes to go a goal would have opened up the game for Waterford, and they had a lot of ball.

“We had a lot of wides, shooting from long distance.

“We went nine points ahead and it never came down to less than five, possibly, but hurling’s a game where a goal can come — and a second one — very quickly.”

Thanks to Richie Hogan, Kilkenny had beaten Clinton Hennessy for two of them before the break and Cody didn’t disguise how vital they were to the cause. “We got an early goal and a goal just before half-time and obviously they were important scores.”

Cody was aware of the speculation about a third Kilkenny-Tipperary All-Ireland final in a row before yesterday.

It will go into overdrive now that Kilkenny had lived up to their side of the bargain with the champions taking on Dublin on Sunday.

“That expectation is there, and has been there all year, and the first half of that equation is ready,” said the James Stephens man.

“The second half, we’ll see Sunday. I look at all games at this level as 50-50, but the players have to be mature enough to deal with that stuff, and keep themselves away from that idle talk.

“You buy into that at your peril but I don’t think it was a factor. I suppose there’s a hold-back factor with All-Ireland semi-finals because they’re a cruel place to lose.

“If you lose, your year is over. All-Ireland semi-final day is a day to win, whether that’s by a point or whatever.”