'I’m constantly telling these lads how good they are' - Brian Dowling on his Kildare side after close Kilkenny clash

“If you told me before the game I’d be disappointed not to win in it, I would have taken that. We are obviously disappointed because we were ahead for most of that game. After Mossy (Martin Keoghan) got that goal we pushed ahead and we were ahead at half-time. We held onto that lead into the second half and we had a chance in the second half when Jack Sheridan was through and we didn’t see the pass, that could have been a massive moment if we got the goal there,” the words of Brian Dowling after his Kildare’s four-point defeat to his native Kilkenny in the Walsh Shield final.

“But I am incredibly proud, the Walsh Cup is about learning and trying to improve and trying to get confidence for us. Antrim last week and Kilkenny today, two massive games, you have people giving out about pre-season competitions but this is absolutely brilliant for us. Playing down here against Kilkenny, one of the best teams in Ireland, that’s worth about 10 training sessions for us.”

Derek Lyng got a look at 24 different members of his match day squad as he ran in nine changes with The Cats finishing the game with nine of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final starters. The switches were needed to get Kilkenny over the line too as the heavy favourites finally re-took the lead for the first time since the fifth minute with seven minutes to go.

Dowling added, “Extremely proud because we knew the level of opposition. When you see John Donnelly, Paddy Deegan, Mikey Butler, Eoin Cody coming on, all them lads that are first team players for Kilkenny that shows what our lads were able to do. Ed McDermott came on and made a huge difference as well. We just stayed going and I love that about our lads. Disappointed not to win because there was a chance there of a massive scalp but we probably ran out of legs in the end. Kilkenny got a run on us in the last 10 minutes. We probably struggled to get the ball. That is learning for us, it is only January, but we have to push on. It gives us confidence going into a very tough league campaign.”

It was put to the Kildare boss that his side’s showing in this game, added to their late win against future AHL Division 1B opponents Antrim, is sure to instil belief in this group as they prepare to tackle some of the best the small ball game has to offer in 2026.

He said, “I’m constantly telling these lads how good they are and that they do belong up here (at the top level), but you don’t know until you cross the white line to see if you can compete. We won the Joe McDonagh last year, but we were extremely disappointed with our performance against Dublin, which wasn’t a reflection of our group, it took place six days after the Joe McDonagh (final). Today, we threw everything at it and I was delighted with the Kilkenny team they named on Friday night, they went strong and I knew that they would have a strong bench. Our lads can leave here with a lot of hope, a lot of positivity, but we have to build on it now in the next couple of weeks.”

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