Kilkenny manager Brian Cody was gracious in defeat and heaped praise on Allianz League Division 1 champions Dublin after his side were overwhelmed at Croke Park on Sunday.
Dublin claimed their first top-flight league crown since 1939 courtesy of a 0-22 to 1-07 victory at HQ.
Cody said: 'We were beaten in every facet of the game in lots of ways,’ conceded the vanquished Kilkenny boss. Our scoring return was absolutely minimal. We struggled all through the game.
'It was about getting the performance right and that didn’t happen. The Dublin performance was on a different level to ours.'
Cody believes that the dominance that his county enjoyed for so long is now over, but is relishing the more competitive environment that the Cats now find themselves in.
'The challenge is phenomenal,' he admitted.
'We had a decent run for a long, long time and now we are at a stage where there is serious questions being asked of us in every single way.
'The response is up to us and how do we face it. You can just carry on as we are and suffer again or are we going to do something about. That would be the plan.'
Hailing the Metropolitans' victory, Cody added: 'It was a phenomenal win. It doesn't surprise me. I've said it for the last three of four years. The talent and potential in Dublin is no longer potential – it is real now.
'What they’ve added to their team now is consistency and they are playing a lovely serious quality of hurling.
'Leinster was supposed to be handy one for a number of years - Leinster is now a minefield and it's going to be phenomenal.'
