Kilkenny and Kildare to make history in UPMC Nowlan Park
Kilkenny welcome Kildare to UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday evening
Kilkenny and Kildare will meet for the first time ever in championship hurling when they lock horns in UPMC Nowlan Park this Saturday evening.
The counties have never met in league or championship, but they have played twice in the Walsh Cup, including last January’s Shield Final meeting, which Kilkenny won on a 1-20 to 2-13 scoreline in Callan.
This weekend’s inaugural meeting could hardly have come at a more important time in what Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng expects to be a ‘huge test’.
Depending on results elsewhere, Kilkenny may need two wins over the next two weekends to ensure themselves a place in the knockout stages of the All-Ireland Championship, so there’s very little wriggle room.
"We’ve a huge battle with Kildare as we saw what they were capable of in the game against Galway and they’ve been impressive all year with some fantastic players that would make any county team,” Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng commented.
"It’s a huge test and we can’t look any further than that.”