Larkin: We all take blame for scoreline

Kilkenny captain Eoin Larkin was delighted to collect two points from his side’s “hectic” game with Dublin on Sunday, but admitted that he and his teammates “couldn’t be happy” with the scoreline they conceded.

Kilkenny pipped Dublin, 5-16 to 6-12, and Larkin said the scores were coming so thick and fast that the players didn’t have much chance to worry about whether the game was gone from them or not.

“The bottom line is that we got the two points,” said Larkin. “I suppose you couldn’t be happy looking up at the scoreboard, but once you win at the end that’s all that matters.

“I never really thought it was gone from us, but at the same time it was such a hectic match — right to the final whistle — that you didn’t really have a chance to think about it (the score) while it was going on, either.

“The main thing for us was to keep plugging away, and we did that, and it paid off at the finish.”

Larkin echoed the comments of his manager, Brian Cody, regarding the scores conceded, pointing to the necessity to work higher up the field.

“I don’t know about the backs getting the blame,” said Larkin. “To be fair to them there was a few handy balls coming down the field from the (Dublin) backs, particularly in the first half.

“That’s something we’ll have to look at and to tighten up for the next day if we want to collect another two points.”

The James Stephens clubman also paid tribute to Dublin.

“They’re a fantastic team, everyone should be well aware of that by now,” said Larkin.

“They might have been caught cold at the start of the league a little bit, but they’ve been improving week on week and I’m sure they’ll be better again the next day out.”

Meanwhile, Dublin boss Anthony Daly is sweating on the fitness of free-taker Paul Kelly for the rest of the league – Kelly pulled a hamstring when scoring Dublin’s first goal last Sunday and is in danger of missing the next couple of weeks’ action.