Cork manager Kieran Kingston says his Cork team were architects of their own downfall in their qualifier defeat by Wexford, but conceded the better team won at Semple Stadium.

Thirteen points from Conor McDonald fired the Leinster side into the next round and to their first championship win over the Rebels since 1956.

Daniel Kearney’s goal eight minutes from time looked to have thrown Cork a lifeline, but they could not see off the Yellow Bellies and bow out of the Liam MacCarthy race in early July.

Coming off the back of minor and Under-21 championship defeats, plus the comprehensive Munster exit to Tipperary after narrowly avoiding relegation to 1B, Cork hurling remains a long lay off its decorated past.

Last week a member of the Cork County Board admitted that solutions are needed to required for what is now a "crisis" in the county and while Kingston wouldn’t be drawn on the bigger picture, he couldn’t mask over another disappointing performance from the men in red.

“It was a very poor performance. It was reflective of that against Tipperary,” he told RTÉ Sport. “We didn’t in any way under estimate Wexford. We knew it was going to be difficult.

“Some of our old failings came back again which cost us and that’s hugely disappointing.”

The foundation for victory was laid by Liam Dunne’s side when they kept the Rebels scoreless for 21 minutes of the first half, though wayward shooting was as much to blame as the tigerish Wexford defending and Kingston conceded that the profligacy in front of goals was sub-standard.

“In the first half, we had 20 scoring chances to their 13. We had 11 wides to their two,” he said.

“We conceded some ridiculous frees and missed a lot of chances. We don’t have any excuses and contributed to our downfall.”

Kingston said that the management team and players will need to go away and “reflect” on their 2016 campaign, but couldn’t conceal his anguish at the latest setback.

“It’s hugely disappointing for us to go out at this stage of the competition.

“It has been a very difficult couple of weeks for Cork hurling.”