'Best performance of the season needed' says Kildare manager ahead Joe McDonagh final

“Really looking to the final, a lot of stuff to get through between now and then but really looking forward to the final.”
The words of Kildare manager Brian Dowling who led his side to Christy Ring success last year; gained promotion to Division 2 for 2026 and now into a Joe McDonagh Cup final on Sunday week.

And when you think the top two priorities at the start of the season was to gain promotion and to cement a place in the Joe McDonagh Cup for 2026, the season, to date can be described as nothing other than an outstanding success.
And now the prospect of taking home the Joe McDonagh, well what can one say.

Talking to a relaxed manager, Brian Dowling, last week, the Kilkelly native said “Saturday was a case of getting the job done, we were so close to the final but weren't there so we had to get our own job done which we did and it is a great place to be for Kildare hurling at the moment.”

The manager admitted that it was in the back of their heads all week, if things went wrong against Down and we waiting on a result from the Laois v Carlow game, that was not the way we wanted it.

“We said to the lads all the week that the game would be a draw and thankfully we did the business here but it would have been a devastating blow if we had not made it to the final, devastating.”

Looking back to the defeat by Kerry and what it was like in the dressing room after that game, Brian said “it was probably not in the dressing room after the match, it was hard to say anything after that game; it was so hard to take but we broke everything down; chatted to the lads on Tuesday night, we had a brilliant session that evening and I felt we would get a good bounce against Westmeath and it was great that came just seven days later and we put in a good performance; they got back level but we pulled away and I think the response in that game was massive” adding, we just did not work hard enough against Kerry, it is as simple as that; we go back to that game now for every single match and remind players 'if we don't turn up for work we don't perform, we don't win matches' the lads know that now'.”

The manager added, as indeed did many of the players, “that defeat to Kerry was the making of this team, even if that defeat was not planned for.

“Carlow and Laois got a wake-up call; maybe for Carlow it was too late in the campaign but our wake-up call it was good and early and it gave us a chance to rectify it and put things right and we have used that experience in every match since.”
The manager added against Westmeath we were fourteen ahead, they got it back a fair bit but we won by six and the confidence has been high ever since.

The manager said he felt “against Carlow Kildare left three our four goals behind them; Rian Boran is off the pitch for ten minutes and Carlow come back into it to draw level, ten to go and you are thinking a good performance but they are going to win but then the lads put in a great last ten minutes against a team like Carlow and that certainly gave us huge confidence and belief; we brought that confidence and belief to the Laois game.

Brian admitted that they were not happy at all at half-time in the Laois game.

“I had a right go at the lads in the dressing room; I wasn't happy with the performance, not where we wanted to be, Cathal McCabe's goal just before half-time was huge, it gave us a five point lead, not sure if we deserved that but the lads believed they could do it, despite playing into a very strong wind.”

The work done by S&C coach Mick Gillick has been commented on throughout the season and Dowling was quick to point that out again when we met.

“Everything he (Mick Gillick) has done has been brilliant, we were not allowed back training until December 7 but the lads came back on their own individual programmes, doing three nights a week before we met in early December and it would not be possible for us to be where we are today without that hard work; testament to Mick to the players and our brilliant coaches in Richie Ruth, Conor O'Shea and Richie Hoban; the fitness and the belief, they go hand-in-hand and they feel now they can win those tight games and go for 75 minutes or so.”

The manager said the he feels to win the Joe McDonagh Cup “it is going to have to be our best performance of the year; Laois are going into the final in a great position; we beat them already, they got there with a last minute goal, a great way to get into a final, but we will only worry about ourselves; Laois will worry about themselves, they are a brilliant team but we will just have to be at our best, it is an All-Ireland final and we must reach our top level if we are to win.”

A big day ahead, a big crowd, live on RTÉ, how will they players take that in?
“You want to be playing in these top games; they have won Christy Ring finals, they want to be in the Joe McDonagh final and this is a great opportunity; before a big crowd; in Croke Park, live TV coverage, this is what it is all about but when the ball is thrown in it is just another game of hurling; our lads will be focused, we won't take our eye off the ball in the run-up to the final; we know what we have to do and if you are not ready to perform against Laois we know we won't be in the game for very long.”

The manager added that he hoped “there will be a big Kildare crowd on Sunday; a great initiative by Leinster Council making 20,000 tickets free for young kids; some brilliant work has been done in Kildare, not just our set-up but before I ever got involved, club coaches, development squads, etc, etc, all hugely important and nothing would have been achieved without those people; Kildare are now getting their rewards for all the great work, not let's go out and win, hopefully we can do that.”

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