If Henry Shefflin was looking for praise from Brian Cody after he became hurling's all-time record scorer yesterday, then he would have been disappointed.

Instead of lavishing praise on his star forward, who scored 0-12 against Dublin to bring his championship tally to an astonishing 22-382, the Kilkenny manager challenged him to keep producing this summer.

"To be honest, I'm more concerned about what he's going to do for the rest of the year," Cody said.

"That's the only concern I have with Henry. Henry doesn't need me to talk about him. His past is as it is. Today on is my only concern with Henry. I'm very happy to have that concern around the place."

Cody insisted that Kilkenny, who struck for three second half goals, were flattered by their 19-point winning margin.

"Certainly, the scoreboard didn't reflect the nature of the game or the difference between the teams by a long shot," he claimed.

"We got an early goal and probably Richie Power's goal was the real clinching goal, but they had opportunities right throughout the game and we're just happy to win the game.

"We have to make huge improvements for the Leinster final. We made a lot of mistakes throughout the game, but at the end of the day the spirit was good and the workrate was good and that's the starting point. But it will be a big step-up the next day.

"The winners of Galway and Offaly will have had two serious games behind them and they'll be better prepared for a Leinster final match-wise than we will be. So the challenge is there." Tweet

Most Read Stories