Cork manager Pat Kenneally blamed his side's poor start for their defeat to Kilkenny in Saturday's All-Ireland IHC final in Thurles.

The Rebels were always playing catch-up after the Cats' raced into an early 1-2 to 0-0 lead and Kenneally admitted: "It was the start that we didn't need. But to be fair, while it was a bad start, at half-time we were only a point down after a tough struggle.

"We came out in the second half and got that point back. We needed everything to go our way - we needed the rub of the green. We needed the referee to look on us favourably, which I imagine he didn't. I think we were five points down before we even got going."

He continued: "I'm very proud of the lads even though we lost. We probably came up here as underdogs and things just didn't happen for us on the day." Tweet

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