Kildare manager Brian Dowling has hit back at Babs Keating for his claim earlier this week that the county face “a crucifixion” in the Leinster SH championship next year.
Tipperary’s two-time All-Ireland winning manager Keating, who lives in Kildare, fears the Lilywhites will be fodder in the competition despite lowering standards in the competition.
Speaking to this newspaper, Keating said: “Looking at Naas and St Martin’s (Leinster club SHC semi-final last Sunday), Naas have been at the top of the ladder in Kildare the last number of years but they were so far away from the principles that govern teams at the highest level.
“I’m not saying St Martin’s are top of the pile but 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.”
Dowling, in an interview with KCLR, pointed out that Naas were without three of their inter-county players against the Wexford champions. He dismissed Keating’s comments but added Kildare will want to prove him wrong.
“It’s hard not to read him — about 10 people sent them on,” said Dowling of Keating’s remarks. “I’ve seen a lot of stuff Babs has said down through the years and if he was praising us, I’d actually be worried because I wouldn’t take anything that man says too seriously.
“Look, he’s trying to stay relevant, he’s trying to stay important. He’s come out with absolutely stupid things in the last number of years… look, I’m not worried about him.”
As Joe McDonagh Cup champions, Kildare have the right to compete in next year’s Leinster SHC, Dowling stressed. “We are where we deserve to be. We’re under no illusion it’s going to be tough for us next year. We’ve a huge battle ahead of us, but if you’ve earned the right to get up there, you deserve the respect to be there.
“We’re looking forward to it. Huge games ahead in Division 1B and Leinster but we’re looking forward to it.”
Highlighting Kildare’s Conan Boran, James Burke, and Cathal Dowling were missing from the Naas team in Wexford this past weekend, Dowling added: “Naas are a different team than we are. That’s his (Keating’s) opinion. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. We’ll just have to try and prove him wrong later in the year. I’m not going to worry about him – we’ll worry about ourselves.”