Devastation and pride: mixed emotions for Dowling after Under 20 defeat

One point losses are never easy, especially when it arrives in a knockout game, so it was no surprise Kilkenny manager Mark Dowling couldn’t hide his disappointment after last week's Leinster semi-final loss to subsequent winners Offaly.

“The one thing we asked of the lads was that they’d just show up,” he said. “On the line it’s hard to know as games take on a life of their own but I thought the lads did that and it turned into a huge battle between two very exciting teams.

“We are devastated that we came out the wrong side of a one point game but such is life,” he added. “I felt we were moving nicely just before they got their goal in the first half. That score gave them energy, but I thought we responded well to that again. I was happy with the position at half-time being only a point down.

“It was a reasonable position to be in. We kicked on from there but they got their goals at killer times really to break our momentum.”

Being backed by a vocal home crowd was a distinct advantage to Offaly but Dowling was pleased at how his players refused to yield.

“With the crowd being so loud and fully behind Offaly, it was hard for lads that are only 18, 19 or 20 years of age to respond when they got knocks like that,” he said.

“I thought they did really well to keep coming back into the game and we had chances that but we just didn’t get the break.

“You have to give Offaly credit as well,” the Dicksboro man added. “They are the reigning Leinster champions for a reason and that group of lads are coming. We knew we’d have a huge challenge.”

Kilkenny did get two goals in the end but they only arrived in the last few minutes and crucial saves from Offaly stopper Liam Hoare earlier in the half proved to be significant.

“The goalkeeper made two fantastic saves outside of the penalty and another day they might go in.

“The goals just wouldn’t come for us and we have a forward line that are dangerous but when we did find the net it was probably just a fraction too late.”

In the end Kilkenny ran out of time with only two minutes of stoppage time added but as Dowling acknowledges that’s the way it goes.

“I knew there was only going to be two minutes of added time as we checked a couple of minutes before that,” he said. “I don’t want to get into making excuses as this is a group that don’t do excuses and maybe sometimes you’d get another play or a little longer but unfortunately we didn’t and that’s just the way it goes.”