Kildare’s Darragh Kirwan is hoping to get back to Croke Park before the summer is out.

The Lilywhites find themselves competing for the Tailteann Cup rather than the Sam Maguire after a dismal Allianz League campaign culminated in relegation to Division 3, while things didn’t get much in the Leinster Championship where they scraped over Wicklow before losing to Louth in last month’s semi-final at Croke Park.

"It was hard to go out of Leinster obviously as we had a chance to get to the final and the All-Ireland series," the Naas sharpshooter told RTÉ ahead of Saturday’s Tailteann Cup opener against Longford at Hawkfield where the capacity has been restricted to just 1,200 spectators.

"But that didn’t happen and we have to refocus now. It's the first step to try and build a bit of momentum and restore a bit of pride really.

"We're still quite raw from the Louth game, but it's an opportunity to put our best foot forward in this competition and we'll certainly be trying to do that.

"Any competition you enter you want to win it. We do want to get back here towards the end of June / July, all going well."

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