Kilkenny camogie manager Brian Dowling knows there’s work to be done as Cork loom on the horizon of the Camogie Leagues Division 1.
Cusack Park played host to Kilkenny’s one-point victory over Clare in round two of the least on Saturday, a game that’s sure to spark some talking points in this week’s Camán Caint camogie podcast.
“We definitely got out of jail”, Dowling has told Scoreline.ie.
“We were very lucky to come away with the points [on Saturday], we didn’t deserve it. We didn’t play well at all, missed a lot of chances, composure was poor at times. We know ourselves we have a huge amount to do. It was a very frustrating game. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game where there have been so many stoppages.”
“There was no flow in it, everything seemed to be a free”, he continued.
“It was very frustrating on both sides – we couldn’t tackle without it being a free. We’re coming away thinking that camogie is being more physical, then it turns out that it’s not. Any neutral coming in to watch that game couldn’t say they enjoyed it. We never got into a groove at all.”
“It’s early in the year, we won’t get too worked up about it but we have a lot to improve on if we want to go any further in the league or the championship.”
While they may have left Ennis frustrated, Kilkenny also left with another two points on the board as they look to claim another national league title.
Next up for last year’s beaten All-Ireland semi-finalists is a league clash against the side that dumped them out of last year’s O’Duffy Cup – Cork.
The Leesiders demolished Limerick in a 5-17 to 0-06 win at the weekend with Ashling Thompson, Saoirse McCarthy, Cliona Healy and more all in sparkling form.
Kilkenny may well be the most successful team in the league for the past decade, but they’ll need to take their game to another level in a fortnight’s tie if they’re to book a place in this year’s league final.
