‘Point-less’ Cats at lowest ebb

KILKENNY football has endured many dispiriting days, but none so demoralising as yesterday’s Allianz League Division 4 defeat at home to lowly Leitrim.

Bad enough that the country’s inter-county outfit were hammered once more, this time by 28 points. What made it worse was the history-making fact that the Dick Mullins-managed Cats failed to register a single score, battered 3-19 to 0-0 in Ballyragget.

GAA historians last night suggested it’s the first time in living memory that a full-scale competitive GAA inter-county fixture has resulted in either side being held scoreless.

Despite their lowly status, the mortifying defeat will raise the question of Kilkenny’s participation at inter-county football level. Kilkenny Football Board secretary Tom O’Reilly said last night the players were devastated but has vowed they will bounce back.

“It was one of those days, nothing went right. They had great possession in the first-half and had five or six frees in scoreable positions but just couldn’t get the ball on target. But I can guarantee you that they will be back on training on Tuesday and Thursday night. All we can do is keep battling and hopefully we can make the breakthrough.

“These boys don’t just want to fulfil fixtures — they want to win. They’re giving it 100% and you can’t fault the board either. There is very little difference between the senior hurlers and the senior footballers in terms of gear, meals and the like.”