Legendary Tipp hurler claims Kildare face 'a crucifixion' in Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

In a piece with the Irish Examiner, All-Ireland winning manager with Tipperary Michael 'Babs' Keating said that Kildare face 'a crucifixion' in the 2026 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

After reaching the All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Final with their Championship success, the Joe McDonagh Cup champions were 21-points worse off than a Dublin side who went on to beat Limerick in the following round. The Lilies faced the boys in blue just six days after their McDonagh Cup Final win over Laois, which by all accounts was followed by extensive (and deserved) celebrations.

Keating went onto to highlight Kildare SHC champs Naas' defeat to St Martin's over the weekend as further evidence of a quality differential between certain counties, “Naas were giving away frees you’d see a Junior B team doing and that’s a Naas team that have eight or nine in the Kildare team going into the Leinster championship next year. It’s going to be a crucifixion.” 

The Lilies of course face an enormous challenge when meeting some of the game's best but Brian Dowling's men will be eager to prove that they are not to be used as an exemplar of the disparity between the two competitions.

The step up will no doubt be enormous for a Kildare side which had not won a Joe McDonagh Cup game until April of this year, when they beat Westmeath. However, tremendous work is continuing in the off season to ensure The Lilies team are as prepared as possible for what is to come in Division 1B and indeed the Leinster Championship.

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