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Brian Dowling leads Kildare to Joe McDonagh Cup glory against Laois after questioning his own ability
BRIAN DOWLING said he questioned his own ability to manage Kildare at the start of this season's Joe McDonagh Cup.
Now he's celebrating his greatest achievement in management after winning the competition and getting Kildare back into the Leinster SHC.
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The Kildare team celebrate after they claimed their first ever Joe McDonagh Cup against Laois on Sunday
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Kildare manager Brian Dowling admitted he questioned his own ability at the start of the 2025 campaign
The Lilywhites produced a stunning second-half performance to see off favourites Laois and capture a first ever Joe McDonagh Cup title.
Sub Jack Travers and Jack Sheridan grabbed the goals while free-taker David Qualter finished with 0-13.
It was a giant collective effort from a team that appeared noticeably fitter as the game wore on. Cian Boran stood tall at the centre of a brilliant defensive effort.
Kildare's immediate reward for the landmark win is an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final clash with Dublin next weekend.
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And they will spend the winter months preparing to return to the Leinster SHC after a 22-year absence.
All of which seemed highly unlikely after Kildare's Round 1 defeat to Kerry only seven weeks ago.
That was the county's ninth defeat in the McDonagh Cup from nine games across three different campaigns.
Kerry ended up being relegated while Kildare went on to win the title though a few 'home truths' needed to be dished out first.
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Dowling, who previously managed Kilkenny to two All-Ireland camogie titles, said: "It's incredible, I can't describe the dressing-room after that Kerry match.
"I've been in a lot of dressing-rooms down the years, losing All-Ireland finals and stuff, but that honestly was one of the worst I've ever been in.
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"I didn't know what to say to the lads. It was hard to say anything. I questioned my own ability as a manager, you know, where do you go? What do you do?
"We actually met the lads on the Tuesday night and we did no video analysis, like we normally would. We just had a hard chat.
"We told a few home truths between ourselves, as players and management. Then we just went back at it.
"We actually trained hard afterwards that night and it was the best thing that ever happened."
Five wins later - including two against 2024 runners-up Laois - Kildare have achieved one of the greatest triumphs in the county's hurling history.
They were actually fortunate to be level with Laois at half-time, 0-11 to 0-11, considering all the point attempts that favourites Laois butchered.
And when Ben Conroy bundled home a Laois goal seconds after the restart, leaving the 2024 runners-up three points ahead, and with momentum on their side, it all looked ominous.
Kildare's response, just like that turnaround after the Kerry game, was truly impressive, outscoring Laois by 2-15 to 0-8 from there on to win by a 10-point margin.
The Travers goal in the 60th minute summed up all that was good about Kildare on the day.
Darragh Melville stripped a Laois defender of possession after a short puck-out and worked the ball across to Sheridan whose blocked shot was slammed home by Travers.
Sheridan netted himself five minutes later, shrugging off a jersey pull as he darted by Laois defender Ryan Mullaney and shot low past Cathal Dunne.
Only for goalkeeper Dunne's excellence earlier, it would have been three goals for Kildare. Dunne pulled off a brilliant double save to thwart firstly Cathal McCabe and then, somehow, Sheridan.
Kildare sub Muiris Curtin punched the air in delight when he fired over in the 68th minute, sensing the job was done.
Only once has a side coming from the Joe McDonagh Cup won an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final - when Laois beat Dublin in 2019.
But if Kildare can repeat this wholehearted performance in Newbridge next Saturday, they'll have a chance.
Dowling said: "We'll do everything we can to be ready for it. But look, obviously six days is difficult. If you had two weeks that would be a lot better and would give lads a chance.
"These lads are going to be very sore. There were a couple of them, I won't name names, but how they got on the pitch at all I don't know.
"We really had to patch them up. We had serious injuries coming into this game but we got through it."
Kildare 2-26
Laois 1-19
Kildare: P McKenna; R Hogan, R Boran, D O'Meara; P Dolan 0-1, C Boran, S Leacy 0-1; D Guerin, C McCabe; C Dowling, J Sheridan 1-4, D Qualter 0-13, 11f, 1 65; D Melville, J Burke 0-2, G Keegan 0-3.
Subs: J Travers 1-1 for Dowling 59, M Curtin 0-1 for McCabe 64, C Kehoe for Melville 69, L O'Reilly for Dolan 69, O Lynam for Keegan 72.
Laois: C Dunne; F C Fennell 0-1, J Walshe, C Comerford; P Delaney 0-2, 2f, L Cleere 0-1, D Conway; A Corby, J Keyes 0-2; P Purcell 0-2, T Keyes 0-6, 5f, D Dooley; M Dowling, J Quinlan, B Conroy 1-2.
Subs: A Dunphy for T Keyes 54, P Dunne for Comerford 60, J Duggan 0-1 for Dowling 62, R Mullaney for Walsh 64, PJ Scully 0-2, 1f for Conroy 66.
