Eyes fixed on championship fare as Kilkenny sides wrap up league campaigns

Last weekend saw the Kilkenny senior hurling and camogie teams bring their league seasons to an end with both finishing off on a positive note.

After an up and down Division 1A league campaign, the hurlers finished up in fifth position just a point above the relegated Waterford, but with their top tier status already confirmed they performed admirably in last Saturday’s 3-24 to 2-27 draw away to Tipperary.

Liam Moore, Mossy Keoghan and the returning TJ Reid all scored goals for the Cats with a stoppage time Jordan Molloy score ensuring Derek Lyng’s men came away from Thurles with a share of the spoils.

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The manager summed up how the league went afterwards when speaking to the assembled media.

“The reality of the league is that we’ve been down a few players from the get go and on top of that we had to look at players as well and I certainly think we’ve found a few players in that regard and the league experience will definitely stand to them,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say I’m too pleased with our league overall as you’d like to be there in the knockout stages but it is what it is and today’s display was better than Salthill so it’s heads down for the championship now.”

Attention will quickly turn to the championship with the first game away to Galway three weeks on Saturday before they then face Wexford a week later on home soil.

Incidentally both those games will be screened live on GAA + after their championship schedule was released on Tuesday.

The Cats then face Brian Dowling’s Kildare team in between away trips to meet Offaly and Dublin in Tullamore and Parnell Park.

On the camogie side of things, the Noresiders went into the final round of action still with a realistic chance of qualifying for the league decider.

With the final scheduled for UPMC Nowlan Park, it was an even bigger carrot for the Cats and they held up their side of the bargain when running out 2-18 to 1-12 winners over Antrim with Emma Shortall and Sarah Barcoe getting the goals in a dominant success for the winners.

Galway’s six-point win over Cork ended the league final hopes however, with the Tribeswomen’s better scoring difference seeing them advance to the final with Waterford on Sunday, April 12 as Kilkenny’s losses to the Deise and the Rebels told on the final league table.

Kilkenny’s next match is the Leinster senior championship semi-final against Wexford in a couple of weeks time before the All-Ireland championship commences. That will see them take on Limerick, Offaly, Wexford, Clare and Dublin in the round-robin series.