"At this level, you make a mistake, you get punished"

Kildare senior hurling boss Brian Dowling was left to rue a slow start to the game as he watched his side fall 14 points short against the Dubs.

“Obviously disappointed with the result,” the manager said. “That scoreline probably was a bit unfair on us, a little bit. Dublin got in there for two goals they were a killer. So unavoidable on our part.

“I thought there was a moment there when Muiris Curtin got through and Dublin did brilliantly to clear it off the line. If that had to go in, I think it was back to three, they went down the field and got a goal and opened up a nine point gap. So that was a massive turning point.

“Look, they're a top-class team, at this level you make a mistake, you get punished and they punished us twice there and they held that then for the rest of the game. But we came back into it and look, there's a lot of positives to take from our team as well.” 

Things were far from ideal at the other end, with Kildare guilty of close to 15 wides.

“We definitely didn't take our chances,” Dowling said. “Our efficiency in the first half in particular, and the start of the second half, wasn't good enough. Look, we have to get better at this level. If you get chances, you have to put them away. 

"We missed a lot of placed balls there, we were back to eight points in the second half, we missed two frees that could have got it back to six and who knows what would have happened then. 

"But look, you have to take the chances against good teams like Dublin - you just don't get away with it and that's something we have to learn and learn quick.”

On the injury front, Kildare were happy to welcome Simon Lacey, Cian Boran and Cathal Dowling back into the starting lineup, with Conan Boran also making another appearance off the bench. 

“That was Cathal Dowling's first game of the year. So, look, we did well to get 60 minutes out him, I thought he went really well out there. He's a crucial player for us, you know, as is everybody. We need absolutely everybody - I keep saying that. 

"This panel has to keep improving, keep trying to get better. We know we have huge, huge games ahead.

“There’s Fitzgibbon (Cup) on now on Wednesday - we’ve a couple of players involved in that. I love that competition, but I suppose for the next week, you're just praying that you get everybody through. 

"For the likes of Kildare, it's not easy because you're trying to balance the two and we don't have the luxury of just resting these lads. We need everybody on the field.”

Kildare host Antrim this coming Sunday in what is already a critical game for both sides' league aspirations. 

"We just have to see where we went wrong (against Dublin), try and avoid the mistakes that we made, and try and improve our shooting efficiency for next week. We're at home, so we have to try and get two points on the board," Dowling said.