Opinion- Improvements to be made but Kilkenny are on the right track

There may have been nerves coming into Saturday’s meeting with Dublin on the back of that Carlow draw, but Kilkenny looked to steady the ship by putting in a good performance.

Dublin would have known that and they came out very aggressively against Kilkenny - you could definitely see a few of the nerves from the Carlow game early on as a result.

It was a tight game and Kilkenny definitely have places to improve especially in the wides that they hit, but the most important thing for them is that when the pressure was on and Dublin were coming at them and really trying to squeeze for a winner, Kilkenny had that response and got that all important goal that kept the distance between the two teams.

The person leading the way in terms of workrate and turnovers was John Donnelly. While he ended up as man of the match with seven points from play, it was the work off the ball that set the tone for the rest of the team.

There were some great turnovers won by Kilkenny players and even when Dublin got scores, Kilkenny were able to respond almost immediately to stem any momentum that their opponents might build up.

The workrate was definitely upped from the last day and I think that’s something that Derek and the management team will have looked for straight away and the indicators were there from the players.

There were a few mistakes and misplaced passes but, as long as the workrate was there, that was always going to be more important than anything else particularly on a night in Parnell Park where Dublin could potentially put you under pressure and go for a win.

I’d say Derek and the management are happy with certain aspects of the performance, while still knowing that there are areas to improve on.

Eoin Cody had a big impact on his return from injury too and he was involved in lots of good play and crucially getting the goal at the end.

The way the season is set up, you are going to pick up injuries and it’s just about hoping that they aren’t long-term and that you get lads back.

As well as Eoin Cody, Eoin Murphy was another one of the experienced lads that performed well at the weekend. Having that base is important.

At the end of the day they came away with the two points from the game which is the most important thing. They can now change their focus to a very important Wexford match.

Considering it’s a very competitive Leinster and Munster championship, Kilkenny being the only team unbeaten and having their fate in their own hands is great - a lot of other teams would take your hand off to be in that place as well.

Kilkenny come into the Wexford game in a good position in that they won’t be coming into it complacent as they have a small bit of feeling from drawing with Carlow still in the memory.

The good feeling of beating Dublin in Parnell Park will do them the world of good. They’ll want to build on that when playing at home in Nowlan Park. Kilkenny have had good battles with Wexford over the last few years so there is a lot of incentive for them to shift their focus towards a Leinster final if they get there.

Obviously players would be aware of Kilkenny’s recent record against Wexford but Derek will be telling the lads that whatever happened last year or the year before or even five years previously doesn’t matter on Sunday as it’s a new set of different circumstances.

A lot of the experienced players on the Kilkenny team would have had good days against Wexford in the past so it’s split on both sides really.

Derek and the lads will be quick to say that this is a standalone game. It is on our own pitch, which we train on every week, so he’ll be expecting a strong performance.

Previous games won’t count for much when the ball is thrown-in and the management will break it down into simple terms by saying it’s very much a 70 minute game and anything that went before this won’t count on the day whether that’s in your favour or outside your favour.

I’m sure the lads will be keen to harp that onto the lads and that’s what it will come down to.

The stakes are high in every game in the Leinster championship at the weekend and if you were to ask any GAA supporter, particularly in Leinster, what would be the best scenario to finish with and they would probably give you the one that we have at the moment.

Each team has had good days and bad days and for the Leinster championship going forward, it’s something that was definitely needed.

It’s great to see that the teams coming up from the Joe McDonagh can get their day in the sun but for a final day you couldn’t have it teed up in a better situation. There’s lots of outcomes that can happen depending on results so that’s an ideal scenario from an independent point of view but, from a Kilkenny point of view, we know the one result we want for the weekend.