Kilkenny Intermediate manager Seamus Kelly reflects on All-Ireland camogie final loss to Cork
The Carlow man saw his team fall short by a point last Sunday
Seamus Kelly challenged the players in his dressing room to think bigger, as he reflected on his team’s heartbreaking one-point defeat to Cork in the All-Ireland Intermediate camogie final on Sunday afternoon in Croke Park.
The Mount Leinster Rangers club man was wholehearted in his praise of his players and argued that some of them should be ready to step up to senior action for 2025.
“Sport is about challenging yourself, that’s why we do it” he said after his side’s 1-11 to 1-10 loss.
“I never thought when I went into an interview ten years ago that I would be here, bringing a team to an All-Ireland final. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but not for me, for the players. I wanted them to get their cup and win an All-Ireland final in Croke Park.
“Now there’s some players in there and it’s time for them to move up a grade. Danielle (Morrissey), I think it’s time for her to look further, and a few others should start looking up as well.”
Nothing has yet been officially confirmed, but it’s widely believed that this could be the last year of second teams competing in an integrated All-Ireland structure, with speculation rife that the practice could be discontinued, or that a separate championship could be created – either of which would be a mistake, in Kelly’s opinion.
“I’ve had a few thoughts on it and I think it’s the wrong thing to do, I think having second teams in it makes it a competitive competition,” he replied.
With Tipperary edging out Laois in the Premier Junior Final while Kilkenny and Cork knocked out Kerry and Offaly at the semi-final stages of the intermediate, he argued that these counties need to be able to win games like that with their first team before they can progress, while also emphasising the value of the structure to teams like Kilkenny and Cork, who completed a senior and intermediate double on Sunday.
“I think if you’re able to compete with the second teams and beat them, then you should be able to go up to senior and compete with first teams. I think they need to have a look at it again, maybe put all the second teams in one group, like they do in Kilkenny, where the winner or the top two in the group goes into knockout stages.
“Maybe don’t totally get rid of them, if you look at some of the senior results this year there were a lot of heavy beatings, that’s not going to do a lot for those teams if they’re going to be yo-yoing up and down. I think the game is in a good place in terms of the skill levels being up, but maybe people should sit down and look at it one more time before making that decision,” he said.
“It’s only when you hit 23 that you start to come into yourself a bit in my opinion. Shauna Treacy for instance went into centre back this year, and through the years Shauna would have been on the fringes of a lot of intermediate teams. It took a while to find her feet, and this year she held number six brilliantly.
“That’s just an example of what the intermediate competition can do. It can give girls a chance to find their feet, improve, look around and learn in a safe environment, away from the pressure of senior championship. When the time comes then, they’ll be well able for it.”
Kelly concluded by thanking his players for their efforts, as he offered his hope that every Kilkenny team will mimic their approach to wearing the black and amber jersey.
“That group of players inside, they left everything out there. I couldn’t have asked for any more from them, the way they wore the jersey even when they were on the back foot, they just pulled themselves together and kept driving on. The girls that came in, did what they were asked to do and did it well, but it’s just one of those days, and we were on the wrong side of it.
“People see them as an intermediate team, we don’t get all the same plaudits as the senior team get. But if any senior team can look at these players in that dressing room, they’ll see what it means to them. If all our Kilkenny teams play with that spirit, Kilkenny will get back on top and start winning All-Irelands again,” he declared.