Kilkenny manager Brian Cody praised the character and fitness of his team after their impressive All-Ireland hurling semi-final victory over Cork. A five-week lay-off since the Leinster final had caused obvious concern for Cody beforehand, but he needn't have worried as the Cats produced another awesome display to run out nine-point winners. "Obviously, we prepared well for it. We were saying to ourselves that it was going to be hard to gauge how we were going after the layoff and that, and the form Cork had been showing coming into the game. All we could do was prepare and go into play the game. I thought we played quite decently. There were big questioned asked of us, especially in the first 20 minutes of each half," he said. "We weathered the storms in both halves. We finished strongly in both halves as well. To be fair, it's a testament to Michael Dempsey and our physical trainers along with our entire medical team in the background." Cody was fulsome in his praise of full back Noel Hickey, who made a triumphant comeback at full back after a 11-month injury layoff. "Noel was really immense from start to finish," he added. "For whatever reason, people continue to question him. He was immense, you can put it whatever way you like but he did it from start to finish. That's just the way he is. He's an absolute inspiration to all of us." Tweet

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