AFTER THE DISAPPOINTMENT of their 12-point drubbing to Dublin in the Allianz Hurling League final last week, Kilkenny supporters finally got the news they had been waiting for since last September last night.

Talismanic Cats star Henry Shefflin returned to action for his club Ballyhale Shamrocks last night in a Kilkenny Senior Hurling League tie against their neighbours Dunamaggin – his first outing since limping off in last year’s All-Ireland final.

Shefflin appeared as a second-half substitute and even managed to get on the scoreboard, but couldn’t prevent his side losing to their neighbours by 1-10 to 0-11.

Shefflin’s return to action is good news for Brian Cody, but the star forward is not likely to be fully fit for the reigning Leinster champions’ first championship outing on June 11.

The best Cody can probably hope for is to have Shefflin available for the Leinster final, currently slated for July 3, should Kilkenny reach the provincial decider.

Shefflin has spent the last eight months in intensive therapy with renowned Limerick-based physio Ger Hartmann, with whom the nine-time All-Star had worked in his attempts to be fit for last September’s All-Ireland defeat to Tipperary.

His therapy to make himself available for that final – despite having incurred a cruciate knee injury just four weeks previously, in Kilkenny’s semi-final win over Cork – had also included regular visits to cryotherapy labs in Wexford.