Kilkenny must lift game, warns Shefflin

WHATEVER about the relevance of league form at the start of summer, it is a notoriously wayward barometer come mid-June, yet Henry Shefflin admits Kilkenny’s stuttering spring remains a minor concern.

It was by no means a disastrous campaign. Wins against Offaly, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford secured a solid eight points and fourth place in Division One despite the absence of a number of front-line troops, Shefflin among them.

That said, three defeats to Tipperary, Cork and Galway by a combined total of seven points hurt, if only because Brian Cody’s men have made a habit of edging tight contests no matter how many leaves are on the trees.