Kildare breathing rarified air in Division 1B
James Dolan on his way a score against Kilkenny. Photos: James Lawlor Photos.
Once the self-admonishment landed, of course I realised that this was another sign of the distance travelled by Brian Dowling and his maturing group of players that they could get within four points of a well-stacked Kilkenny team and that, were it not for Derek Lyng springing the cavalry from the bench, a first ever win over the Black and Amber might have been achieved.
A couple of things impressed me particularly in that performance two weeks ago. Firstly, I didn’t expect Kildare to be able to live with Kilkenny physically as well as they did. Of course, this was a pre-season warm-up, and you have to flavour your view with a pinch or two of salt as a result, but the signs were promising given the company we will be keeping in League and Championship this year.
Secondly, I thought our touch and stickwork was outstanding for a cold damp January afternoon, particularly the likes of Cathal McCabe, Gerry Keegan and Rian Boran.
Eventually Kilkenny wore us down and with substitutes of the quality of Eoin Cody, Richie Reid and the powerful Ed McDermott it was no surprise in hindsight that they had too much for us.
It’s a pattern we’ll probably have to get used to as Kildare enter their first league campaign in a division with a 1 in its name since dropping out of 1B in 1980. Let that sink in. Forty-six years.
If you look at the table at the bottom of this article, you’ll note that Kildare have had reasonably frequent league outings against Carlow (33), Down (20) and Antrim (18), but it’s the novelty of meeting Dublin (7 previous clashes), Clare (4) and Wexford (just 2) that whets the appetite.
The size of the task against that trio is illustrated by our record of just one win against any of them in league hurling. That one came against the Dubs on 8 October 1972 in the old Fr Brennan Park in Naas and it was no fluke with the Lilywhites running out 5-15 to 2-11 winners in Division 1B.
“Kildare Hurlers Romp to Victory” read the Irish Independent headline the morning after but that outcome looked highly unlikely when Dublin led 1-7 to 0-1 after the first quarter, albeit with the wind behind them.
A Seán O’Leary goal sparked the Kildare revival and the Independent awarded “full marks to Kildare for such a great comeback. Their hurlers, unlike the footballers (ouch!), have always shown tremendous fighting spirit and it was never better exemplified than yesterday,” reporter Bob Hyland wrote before crediting Pat Dunney, Johnny Walsh and the Carew brothers Tony and Tommy with their resurgence.
The Kildare line-up and scorers that day: P Connolly; S Malone, R Cullen, J Curry; Tony Carew, P Dunney (1-1), M O’Brien; T Christian, J Walsh 0-6 (4fs); S O’Leary (2-2), Tommy Carew (0-2), R Burke; N Behan, M Deeley (0-2), M Dwane (0-2). Sub: F Deering (2-0) for Burke.
That was the first time the two counties met in the League and the Dubs exacted revenge six times in subsequent meetings, but Kildare did have a famous Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Quarter Final win over the Metropolitans in 1976 in Aughrim, on a scoreline of 3-10 to 1-10, with Mick Moore from Broadford blasting two goals.
What would Brian Dowling give for a similar outcome in Parnell Park on Saturday night, unlikely as that might seem?
Kildare of course had the opportunity to benchmark themselves against the Dubs in the summer when coming up against them in the All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter Final in Newbridge six days after the Joe McDonagh Cup triumph over Laois. We know how that went but we don’t know how a fully prepared home side would have fared.
The Dubs of course beat hotly fancied Limerick the next day before shipping seven goals in a semi-final defeat to Cork. Will the real Dublin please stand up? They have Eoghan O’Donnell back after a spell with the footballers and have an opening round game against Clare under their belts so Kildare’s task is sizeable.
With a two-up, two- down system in a seven-team division, realistically, Kildare will be targeting wins against the three teams they have played most regularly, Carlow, Down and Antrim, and with the win against the Saffrons in the Walsh Shield semi-final they have now had success against all three within the last year, though Down in fairness beat them twice out of their three meetings, including the National League Division 2 final.
With the Down game involving another long trip to Ballycran, the home games against Antrim (game 2) and Carlow (game 5) look like key ones Kildare will be looking to take full points from. It’s crucial for their development that they hold onto their hard-earned Division 1B status.
Dowling’s panel has an experienced and consistent look to it, though he will be hoping to have the likes of Simon Leacy, Cathal Dowling and David Qualter back from injury sooner rather than later.
On that note, how wonderful to see Conan Boran back on the field late on against Kilkenny. With James Burke making good progress from his own cruciate injury, and youngsters such as Tom Power, Oran Byrne, Tim Ryan and Alan Goss pushing for inclusion, these are heady and exciting times for Kildare hurling.
As we said in the football preview last week, though, patience will be required. This is senior hurling now.
Played18, Won 6, Lost 12.
Played 33, Won 12, Drew 2, Lost 19.
Played 4, Lost 4.
Played 20, Won 7, Drew 4, Lost 9.
Played 7, Won 1, Lost 6.
Played 2, Lost 2.
