Kilkenny seem to be falling back to the rest a little

OFFALY manager Mike McNamara believes Kilkenny’s imperious standards have slipped just enough to offer the rest of Leinster a glimmer of hope ahead of the provincial championship.

The counties meet on Sunday in the second phase of the National League with, effectively, nothing more than pride and brownie points at stake as with Laois, Dublin and Antrim in the same section, neither are realistic relegation candidates.

The form book suggests that, barring a catastrophe, the two will meet again in the Leinster final in July and McNamara is hopeful the occasion can provide a rare degree of competition after the damp squibs of the last half a decade.