Opening round defeat has worked in Kildare's favour

It almost doesn’t bear thinking about but it is worth considering as it’s a testament to Kildare’s quality and professionalism.

The team knew that three successive wins in the McDonagh Cup put them on the brink of a final ahead of the final group game against Down. Kildare knew it was their own hands and a win would secure a place in the Croke Park but in the event of a loss, only a draw between Carlow and Laois would deny them.

It would have been perhaps understandable if Kildare eased off slightly with thoughts of that likely safety net to protect them. As it turned out, Sunday’s opponents Laois scored a 75th minute equalising goal to break Carlow hearts and book a final place but had Kildare not done their work against Down, it would have been them whose hearts would have been broken.

“It was in the back of our minds all week leading into that game against Down,” said manager Brian Dowling.

“We knew if we lost that we’d be left waiting to hear about results from elsewhere and that was a place that we didn’t want to be in. We said to the lads during the week to just take it that the game in Carlow would be a draw. Thankfully we go our job done because it would a devastating blow to be waiting for a result and hearing there was a late goal to make it a draw in Carlow,” he added.

A place in Sunday’s final seemed a long away after a hugely disappointing defeat to Kerry in the opening round but although that very difficult to take at the time, Dowling actually feels that it could have been the making of the team.

“It was hard to say anything after the (Kerry) game. I’ve been involved in hurling a long time, as a player and a manager, I’ve been involved in losing All-Ireland finals but I don’t think I’ve ever felt as bad as I did that day of the Kerry game. It was just so hard to take that we threw the game away really. We broke everything down and had a good chat with the lads the following Tuesday evening and we had a great training session that night and I felt we’d get a good bounce out of the lads. It was great that the Westmeath game was only seven days later, and in Newbridge, and we put in a great performance that day. I think the response in the Westmeath game was massive. We just didn’t work hard enough in the game against Kerry, simple as that. We go back to this every single game now, if we don’t turn up and go to work and perform then we won’t win matches.

“We definitely didn’t plan for it but I do honestly think it was the making of this team. Who knows, you beat Kerry, would you go and win the next three or four games in a row? I don’t know. Carlow and Laois got a wake up call later in the groups but for us it was good and early. We had a chance to rectify the things that didn’t go right that day and the players have used that for every match since,” said Dowling.

It shows how far Kildare had progressed that Dowling was so unhappy with the team’s first half performance in Round 4 against Laois in Portlaoise when five points ahead but what followed in the second half was some of the best hurling that Kildare have produced during Dowling’s time so far.

“We weren’t happy at all at half time of the Laois game. We had a right go at the lads, I wasn’t happy with the first half performance, it wasn’t where we wanted to be. I think Cathal McCabe’s goal just before half time was huge. It gave us a five point lead going in, I don’t know if we deserved that. We just said that we’re five points up without hurling well, we needed to believe that we could go and win that game. The second half performance, into a strong wind, was really impressive. We really went at Laois and got a couple of goals, an 11 point win in the end probably flattered us but it was great to get the victory down there,” said Dowling.

As good as that second half was, Dowling knows more will be needed on Sunday.

“We know it’s going to be out toughest test of the year, it’s going to be a huge battle and it will have to be our best performance for 75 minutes. We know that our performance down in O’Moore Park won’t be enough. For Laois, they are going in in a great position, we beat them already, they scraped through with a last minute goal, it’s a great way to go into a final but look, we’ll just worry about ourselves. Laois will worry about themselves too, they are a brilliant team who are really well coached and we know that we’ll have to be at our best on Sunday to beat them. It’s an All-Ireland final and we have to reach our top level, and hopefully we’ll get there,” said Dowling.

It will be a proud day on Sunday for the Kilkenny native as he leads out his team on Leinster Senior Championship Final day. Kildare will have his full focus between now and then but he did admit that come Sunday evening if both his teams have won that he will be a very satisfied man.

“My full focus will be on Kildare. It’s hard to enjoy any other match, or anything else in life really, when you are so involved in an intercounty team, you don’t have time for anything else, as my wife would probably tell you. But look, it’s great that the two teams are there and if both win I’ll be a happy man on Sunday night,” he said.