Seanie McGrath was surprisingly upbeat after Cork's collapse to Kilkenny in last Sunday's Allianz Hurling League final.

While most Cork supporters left Semple Stadium completely demoralised, McGrath took some positives from the defeat.

"I suppose the main thing was that we played with a bit of pride and managed to match Kilkenny on the scoreboard in the second half, while I thought a number of our fellas showed good form in general," the Rebel County selector told the Corkman.

"Sean Og (O hAilpin) was very good in the half back line, William Egan played reasonably well, while Darren Sweetnam was massive when we brought him on at midfield for the second half. Jamie Coughlan also did well when he was introduced in attack.

"Patrick Horgan always looked dangerous in the full forward line and Luke O'Farrell, even if he didn't score, showed plenty of promise too. Maybe if we had been able to get enough ball into Patrick and Luke, we might have given Kilkenny something to think about but, at the end of the day, you would have to say that a lot of our guys didn't perform up to scratch, and the magnitude of the defeat is testament to that." Tweet

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