St Kieran’s College manager Brian Dowling says he was delighted with his side’s attitude and intensity in their 2-20 to 1-11 victory over Good Counsel College New Ross, in yesterday’s Leinster Colleges Senior Hurling Championship clash.
The win secures Kieran’s place in the Leinster semi-finals, joining CBS Kilkenny, who had already booked their spot. The game was broadcast live on KCLR Plus, and after the final whistle, Dowling spoke to Oisín Langan about both the performance and recent comments made by former Tipperary manager Babs Keating regarding Kildare hurling.
Dowling praised his team’s response after a sluggish start the previous week.
“I thought our forwards, off the ball, were excellent. We started it really, really well — it didn’t start well last week. We didn’t show on the scoreboard in the first five or ten minutes, but I thought we worked really well. We probably gave a soft goal at the start of the second half, but the response was really good and we got a few extra players onto the pitch.”
Switching focus, Langan raised Keating’s recent comments in which the former Tipp boss suggested Kildare could be “crucified” in next year’s Leinster Championship. Dowling, who also manages Kildare, didn’t shy away from addressing them.
“It’s hard not to read him — about ten people sent them on. I’ve seen a lot of stuff Babs said down through the years and if he was praising us, I’d actually be worried because I wouldn’t take anything that man says too seriously. He’s trying to stay relevant, he’s trying to stay important. He’s come out with absolutely stupid things in the last number of years.”
Dowling stressed that Kildare’s place in the Leinster Championship is fully earned, even if the challenge will be significant.
“We are where we deserve to be. We’re under no illusion — it’s going to be tough for us next year. We’ve a huge battle ahead, but if you’ve earned the right to get up there, you deserve the respect to be there. Huge games ahead in Division 1B and Leinster but we’re looking forward to it.”
Langan suggested Keating had judged Kildare based on Naas’ heavy defeat, noting fatigue among their players. Dowling agreed that the comparison is flawed.
“People have to realise that Naas were without Conan Boran, James Burke, and Cathal Dowling — three main players for us. Look at Ballyhale at the weekend: Adrian Mullen was missing and what a huge loss. You take TJ Reid or Eoin Cody out and they’d suffer too. Naas are a different team than we are.”
Despite the noise, Dowling was clear that neither he nor his players would be sidetracked.
“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. We’ll just have to try and prove him wrong later in the year. I’m not going to worry about him — we’ll worry about ourselves.”
