The Kilkenny senior camogie team are one game away from qualifying for the All-Ireland semi-final following their fourth consecutive victory in the All-Ireland series against Offaly on Saturday.
The only team that stands in their way are the All-Ireland champions Galway as both sides lock horns on Saturday evening at 4pm in Athenry.
That game means both the Kilkenny senior camogie and hurling teams will take to the pitch on Saturday evening with Brian Cody’s Leinster champions taking on Clare in Croke Park at 5.30pm in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final.
See also: Kilkenny ease to comfortable victory over Offaly to continue winning run
The clash of fixtures along with where his team needs to improve were the topics of conversation when Brian Dowling spoke to Scoreline following his team’s comfortable victory at home to their Leinster rivals at the weekend.
He began: “We wanted to win our first four games and put ourselves into a good position ahead of the Galway game.
“We find ourselves in that position now and we’re playing an All-Ireland quarter-final in some ways because the winner gets into a semi-final.
“We have to cut out mistakes and keep clean sheets. We know that we can turn things around when it goes wrong but we don’t want it to go wrong in the first place.
“Next Saturday is huge. We have to be ready mentally and physically and recover from this game.”
See also: Kilkenny adult camogie leagues continue across the county tonight
On the Galway game, he said: “It is a must win game.
“We’ll go up there and hopefully we’ll perform, They’re the league champions and All-Ireland champions so they’re one of the best teams in the country. I know the Kilkenny girls have tremendous character and we’ll put in a performance. I have no doubt about that.
“It will be our toughest game of the year. We’re both in the same boat. We can only control what’s in front of us and not worry that we haven’t had the most difficult of games.
“If we focus on ourselves and get our stuff right we’ll have a chance. It’s not going to be easy but if we hurl like we can we’ll be in it.”
He also dubbed the fixture scheduling as “understandable but disappointing.”
“The clash of fixtures doesn’t make much sense and it’s disappointing. The games should be at two o’clock because it’s not easy having to travel that far so late in the day.
“We’d love to be able to watch Kilkenny take on Clare (In the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final) and then play our game or vice versa. That’s not the case though, so we have to get ready for our game and try and beat Galway.”
