Losing JJ motivated us, says Power

Losing two-time All-Star winning defender JJ Delaney gave Kilkenny "extra motivation" to win the All-Ireland SHC title, according to the Cats' wing forward Richie Power.

Delaney, who was voted the Hurler of the Year in 2003, agonisingly sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury in training two weeks ago and missed out on his fourth All-Ireland final appearance yesterday.

Power, who sent over a point in the three-point victory over Cork, said: "You can't replace a player of JJ Delaney's calibre. He's probably the best defender in the game at the moment.

"To lose him two weeks ago was an unmerciful blow to us, but it was an extra motivation for us because JJ hasn't missed a training session all year.

"We wanted to do it for him and Donnacha Cody, who picked up an injury himself a week ago and he'll be out for a couple of months as well. We owed it to them."

Meanwhile, James Fitzpatrick, who had a towering game at midfield for Kilkenny, confirmed at the winners' banquet at the Citywest Hotel that his nickname came from his likeness, as a youngster, to the cartoon character Charlie Brown.

One of the smallest players in the Cats panel at 5ft 10in and 11 stone, 'Cha' said: "It's been a great year. At the start of it, to be honest, I didn't believe we could go on to win the All-Ireland so it's a dream come true.

"It was heavy going (against Cork) - there was a lot of pulling and dragging throughout the game, but when I saw James Ryall tearing into Tom (Kenny) and Jerry (O'Connor), I just knew we were going to win it!”