"People say it's very early in the year, but I don't really care. Winning isn't a bad habit and the supporters make such a difference. We're not going to get over the line if they're not behind us."

Davy Fitzgerald and Wexford continued their winning ways against Cork.

"Wexford were ferociously competitive and intense; they're physical, big men, very mobile. And they're probably two weeks ahead of us, but I'm delighted with the commitment we showed. I'm disappointed with the result, but a good performance."

Rebel County boss John Meyler took his hat off to his native county.

"Our finishing left a bit to be desired. We had a monopoly of possession but Kilkenny were left in the game and they kept coming back. You never run away with anything in Nowlan Park."

Clare finished with three points to spare over the Cats and joint-manager Donal Moloney felt they should have been further ahead at the final whistle.

"Any time you go out you're not experimenting because who is to say who will play in the championship anyway? The fellas on the field today were the Kilkenny senior hurling team and that's it."

Kilkenny may have been short a number of regulars at Nowlan Park but Brian Cody wasn't using that as excuse.

"Will this count in the latter stages of the league? No. Will it count in the Munster championship? No. But for the here and now it's a good workout."

Michael Ryan guided Tipp to a 1-20 to 1-11 win over Waterford.

"We wouldn't feel arrogant enough to treat the League in a flippant manner. But we hear a lot about player welfare, too. We could have picked a half-back line with Tadhg, Austin (Gleeson) and so on, but based on guys playing three or four games in the last few weeks, we'll approach it in the way that suits us."

Player welfare comes first for Deise boss Derek McGrath.

"I was at the game in Croke Park last week, I thought they played exceptionally well. But we just didn't allow them to impose themselves on the game today like they did last week. We dictated the terms and that was it."

Limerick boss John Kiely was pleased with how his players went about their business against Offaly.

"It's a big reality check, and I have to say it was all across the team except for maybe a few players."

Kevin Martin and his Faithful County players were brought back down to earth by the Treaty County.

"Our work-rate, particularly in the first 60 minutes, was excellent. We really worked hard. Our shooting wasn't what it should have been, we'd far too many easy chances that we missed, but it was very satisfying to get the response from last week."

Dublin scraped over Antrim at Corrigan Park and Pat Gilroy was happy with the manner in which his players responded to their round 1 defeat to Offaly.

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