Martin Keoghan: 'No ceiling' to what Harry Shine can do for Kilkenny

Kilkenny face Dublin in a classic win-or-bust scenario this weekend

Harry Shine returned from an ACL injury and scored 1-2 for Kilkenny in their victory over Kildare. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor

With one game left for Kilkenny in the Leinster SHC round-robin, there's a statistic that has been rising at an alarming rate.

Well, you put it to Martin Keoghan that the Cats' increasing wides tally - six against Galway in Round 1, 14 against Wexford, 16 against Offaly and 24 against Kildare last weekend - is a concern but he's inclined to flip it on its head. At least they're creating the chances.

And he's got a point. If they create as many again this Sunday against Dublin at Parnell Park, a game they simply have to win, and if they convert their fair share this time, well, you'd back Kilkenny to maintain their winning streak against the Sky Blues.

Against Kildare last Saturday evening, Kilkenny scored 4-25, on top of the 24 wides they struck, as well as the half dozen point attempts that dropped short, which amounts to around 60 scoring attempts.

"If you weren't scoring and not creating the chances, it would be a problem," reasoned Kilkenny forward Keoghan at the announcement that Avonmore Protein Milk has extended its partnership with the GAA/GPA by five years.

"But the fact we're creating the chances is a huge positive. It's just about correcting that and getting that accuracy level up. We're still scoring quite a lot while creating a lot of chances. So you definitely have to look at the positives.

"There's room for improvement in terms of our shooting percentages there, but definitely huge positives in terms of the chances we're creating."

To be fair to the Kilkenny forwards, they encountered tricky, windy conditions in the games against Offaly and Kildare, when they tallied 40 wides in total.

Kilkenny hurler Martin Keoghan at Croke Park for the announcement of Avonmore Protein Milk’s five year extension of its long standing partnership with the GAA and GPA. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

"Nearly all of them were on the right-hand side," said Keoghan, referencing how the Kilkenny players drove 13 wides in the first half of last weekend's game against Kildare at Nowlan Park.

"If you were to count, I'd say the majority of them were on that right-hand side because of the wind. Now obviously you have to take that into account with your shooting as well."

The return of TJ Reid to top form against Kildare, after a rare off day in Tullamore, bodes well for this Sunday, as do the comebacks of both Adrian Mullen (thumb/groin) and Harry Shine (ACL) after long-term injuries. Keoghan, Reid and Shine formed the full-forward line triumvirate against Kildare and registered 3-12 between them. Even allowing for Kildare's struggles, particularly in the second half, it was an impressive flex.

On Reid, Keoghan anticipated such a display.

"I suppose he is human at the end of the day," said Keoghan, nodding to Reid's withdrawal against Offaly. "But we knew that (performance) was there. He's one of the best to ever do it. He's still our leader, our talisman."

Some day, Shine might enjoy a similar status. He surprisingly started against Kildare having not featured for the Cats since last year's Leinster final, and scored 1-2.

"He played half an hour of club hurling two weeks ago," said Keoghan of Dicksboro man Shine. "Stepping in there after basically a year out, it shows the quality of hurler he is.

"I don't think we've even got a glimpse of what he's capable of yet. Even last year he was only starting to come into form when he got injured. This year he's come back, I think, at a higher level than he left us at, which is a credit to him.

"So I think there's no ceiling to what he can produce, he has it all really. For a young lad, his skill and his desire is there, he can go a long way."

The hope, from Kilkenny's perspective, is that there are more games beyond next Sunday. If they lose to Dublin, and if Offaly beat Kildare, then Kilkenny will be out of the Championship. Equally, if they beat Dublin then they'll be through to another Leinster final. The quintessential win or bust.

"They're absolutely flying it," said Keoghan of the Dubs, who beat Galway in Salthill last weekend. "If you want to go about trying to take them down, it's hard.

"They're very good at running it. They've always been very good at playing it short but in the last year or two, John Hetherton, Ronan Hayes, these boys can mix it up and they can go long or short. So that's the tricky question when you go to play them, do you push up or sit off them? Because they can do it both ways."