Emotional day in store for Dowling as Burke returns to Kildare squad

When Brian Dowling took over Kildare as a Christy Ring team ahead of the 2024 season he could have hardly believed that just a couple of years later he would be leading his adopted county into a Leinster Senior Hurling Championship tie against his native Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.

He is a proud Kilkenny man to the core and maybe if he had thought about that possibility at the time he might have had second thoughts about taking the Kildare job on. It's a testament to the incredible job that he has done as Kildare manager that that the cards have fallen that way and be under absolutely no illusions now, for 70 minutes on Saturday there is only team that he wants to win.

“Yeah, look, it's a strange one, I suppose,” he said when speaking after last Saturday’s game against Galway.

“When I took this job, I didn't think I'd be heading down to Nowlan Park taking on Kilkenny,” he said.

Kildare played Kilkenny in a Walsh Shield tie earlier in the year but a Championship game that means so much to both teams is a very different story.

“I said it after that Walsh Shield game. I'm a true Kilkenny man, I'll always be a Kilkenny man but for 70 minutes, I'm a Kildare man,” he said.

It’s not just a strange for Dowling, but also his family too.

“I don't know whether my family will be supporting me or Kilkenny. I don’t know what jerseys my young lads will be wearing,” he laughed.

With just one win in the three games so far Kilkenny need a win but Kildare fighting for their lives to avoid relegation and Dowling insists they will be doing everything in their power to get a result that would help improve their prospects.

“We need to get points on the board. So, for that 70 minutes, it's all Kildare for me and I'll do everything I can to make sure that we try and get something out of it and get a result in Nowlan Park,” said Dowling.

The Championship so far has thrown up a mixed bag in terms of injuries for Kildare and that's once again the case heading into the final two rounds. David Qualter’s knee injury against Dublin was even worse than first feared and he facing into a lengthy spell on the sidelines. He has already had one operation and will need at least one more within the next two months.

While Dowling is gutted for the Maynooth man, there is better news for Saturday’s game with the return to the matchday squad of Cian Boran and James Burke. Boran missed the last two games after having his appendix out but Burke has been missing since picking up a cruciate injury in the dying seconds of Kildare’s McDonagh Cup final win over Laois 11 months ago.

Dowling had revealed last weekend that the return of Burke was imminent.

"James did the warm-up there today, so he's just about there now."

“The work he has done to get back is immense. He was very unlucky to have got a setback along the way but he is working so hard behind the scenes. He's meticulous in everything he does. It would be great now to get him back on the pitch on Saturday,” said Dowling.

Kildare team to face Kilkenny:

1 (GK) Paddy McKenna (Clane)

2 Liam O'Reilly (Naas) 

3 Rian Boran (Naas) 

4 Richy Hogan (Naas) 

5 Paul Dolan (Éire Óg Corra Choill) 

6 Conan Boran (Naas) 

7 Simon Leacy (Naas) 

8 Daire Guerin (Naas) 

9 Dan O'Meara (Maynooth) 

10 Jack Travers (Leixlip) 

11 Cathal McCabe (Maynooth) 

12 Gerry Keegan (Celbridge) 

13 Darragh Melville (Leixlip) 

14 Muiris Curtin (Moorefield) 

15 Jack Sheridan (Naas) 

16 (GK) Mark Doyle (Clane) 

17 Evan O'Briain (Naas) 

18 Cathal Dowling (Naas) 

19 Tim Ryan (Ardclough) 

20 Harry Carroll (Naas) 

21 Conn Kehoe (Moorefield) 

22 Cian Boran (Naas) 

23 Tom Power (Maynooth) 

24 Caolan Smith (Clane) 

25 Alan Goss (Celbridge) 

26 James Burke (Naas)

ROUND 4 FIXTURES: Sat 16 May - Galway v Dublin, Pearse Stadium, 4.30pm; Kilkenny v Kildare, UPMC Nowlan Park, 6pm; Offaly v Wexford, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 6pm.