Burke says Carlow have “a job to do” but praises Kilkenny attitude
Carlow’s Sara Doyle skips through the challenges from Kilkenny’s Emer Dunphy and Ellie Royce-Brennan Photo: © Michael O’Rourke Photography
7-41 is not a scoreline that you see everyday of the week and Carlow manager Ed Burke was full of praise for the manner in which his team approached their game against Kilkenny in SETU Carlow on Saturday afternoon.
Kilkenny had finished their Division 4 campaign with a score difference of -227 across their seven games, a 39 point defeat by Carlow accounting for some of that tally, so Burke and his team knew what sort of a game to expect.
While there was an element of sympathy towards Kilkenny, Carlow have lofty goals this season so they didn’t have time to take their foot off the pedal.
“Coming into the game, we wanted to practice our attacking play. We got 48 scores and you can only be happy about it.
“I think it's the first time I've been in a game where we've scored 40 points. I've been to a lot of games but I've never seen 40 points,” said Burke, who also had praise for the attitude of his opponents.
“I'll give credit to Kilkenny to keep trying to keep going, because it's tough week after week to keep going like that but at the same time, we've got to come out and do our job. We train hard. Everybody wants to get their opportunity to play and do well, so we've got to just do what we've got to do.
“I don't like completely annihilating teams, but that's just what we've got to do,” said Burke, who also noted that in tight groups such as this that score difference can often be crucial in the final reckoning.
“Before the game we had set a target of 30 scores. Then at half-time we set a target of 40 scores and they hit 48. Look, we're delighted with the attacking play,” said Burke.
The talents of Clíodha Ní Shé and Sara Doyle are well known, while Aibhe Kiernan has emerged as a hugely potent scorer this season but what really pleased Burke was the impact of his younger players.
Kate Burke and Megan Townsend scored first half goals while Maeve O’Neill, Maria Healy and Sarah Nolan all contributed handsomely after being introduced at half time.
“We've got loads of good forwards and there's good batting inside. Kate was excellent in the first half, and Maria's only gone 16 since December, I think. So another real exceptional talent there.
“We just want to keep building and we know we've furthered things. I know that's probably the last time we're going to play Kilkenny for the year and we just want to drive on against Offaly next weekend,” said Burke.
Although he didn’t know it at the time, that game against Offaly next Saturday afternoon in the SETU Carlow campus is now something of a dead rubber from a Carlow point of view. A draw on Saturday afternoon between Offaly and Longford means that they are already assured of their place in a Leinster final.
But don’t expect Carlow to let up. They have won all 11 games they have played this year and have a Division 4 title in the bag. Their short term focus is now on adding a Leinster title to that before they reset ahead of their ultimate goal, to win an All-Ireland title at Croke Park.
“We’ll put this game to bed now and move on now to the tests ahead. We've 11 wins out of 11 so far and we want to keep driving on that. We don't want to lose any game. We just want to keep winning and winning and winning because we know it keeps that momentum going. In our heads, whether we're up by 40 points or down, we know we just have to keep trying to get on the right side of the scoreboard,” said Burke.
Crucially for Carlow as they get into the business end of the season, they are picking from pretty much a full strength squad and Burke said that is down to the work they have done through the winter months.
“In fairness to the girls, they work really, really hard. I think we had 25 players there today, we had three players away, but everybody would have been fit to play if needs be.
“We're delighted with the way things are going and they're training really hard and that's why we want to keep going. We want to lift a second trophy with a Leinster trophy and drive on from there. So it's trying to just put this game behind us now and use the good bits from it and move on to the next game,” said Burke.
Shannen Cotter; Beibhinn Nolan, Roisin Murphy, Grace Lawlor, Niamh Murphy 0-1, Niamh Forde, Megan Townsend 1-1; Roisin Bailey, Caoimhe O’Neill 0-1; Edel Hayden, Clíodhna Ní Shé 0-9 (4fs), Amy Hanley, Kate Burke 1-3, Sara Doyle 2-6, Aibha Kiernan 3-7. Subs introduced at half time: Nicole Hanley, Anne Roche, Siofra O’Neill, Aoibhin Webb 0-1, Niamh Ralph, Maria Healy 0-5, Sarah Nolan 0-3, Maeve O’Neill 0-4, Clodagh Mahon, Amy Farrell.
Jane Flynn; Rionach Butler, Rachel Doherty, Emer Dunphy, Danica Tervit-Kruger, Ellie Royce Brennan, Eva Lavelle; Nessa Godden, Sarah Smith; Aoibhe Ryan, Becky Lomax, Ellie Moran, Megan O’Reilly, Chloe Tennyson, Maria Ryan. Subs: Caragh Brennan for Butler, h/t; Megan Carroll for Doherty, 46; Butler for Dunphy, 59.
Emma Dunne (Louth)
