Kilkenny bring form to Croke Park camogie quarter-final
Waterford's Orla Hickey, Clare's Abby Walsh, Kilkenny's Laura Murphy and Tipperary's Karein Blair, Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie
While it may not attract the same level of anticipation as their most recent outing at the stadium, Laura Murphy is nonetheless thrilled at the prospect of once again featuring for Kilkenny in a championship bout at Croke Park this weekend.
On July 6 of last year, O’Loughlin Gaels stalwart Murphy lined out at centre half-forward and scored five points as the Noresiders lost to Tipperary after extra-time in an All-Ireland senior camogie championship quarter-final at GAA HQ.
Later on that day, the same two counties clashed in an All-Ireland senior hurling championship semi-final in Croke Park – a game that also saw Tipperary coming out on top.
Tomorrow afternoon will now see the Cats returning to Jones’ Road for another hurling-camogie double header with Waterford providing the quarter-final opposition on this occasion (throw-in 1pm). While neither county will be lining out in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final that follows their showdown on Saturday – Cork and Galway face each other in that particular fixture – Murphy is excited that Kilkenny have another opportunity to showcase their abilities in Croke Park.
“It has been that way for the last couple of years and I think it has been really successful in terms of promoting the game. Last year we were very lucky that it was a double header between Tipp and Kilkenny in the camogie and the hurling. I think that brought in a massive crowd, especially towards the latter end of that game,” Murphy remarked at a media day for the All-Ireland camogie championship quarter-finals at Croke Park earlier this week.
“It went to extra-time, but I think any time you get an opportunity to play in Croke Park, you want to take that opportunity. Maybe there mightn’t be as much of a crowd this year obviously with Cork and Galway. I think the majority of tickets will be gone that way.
“It mightn’t be as much of an atmosphere here this year, but the opportunity to play in Croke Park is massive. I suppose you’re never going to turn that down.”
Whereas their form had been somewhat mixed coming into last year’s quarter-finals, Kilkenny are currently in the midst of an impressive winning run.
Under a new structure for the camogie championships in the current season, the four teams who reached the semi-final stage of the senior grade in 2025 were placed in one group with the remaining six sides finding themselves in another group.
Given they haven’t reached the penultimate phase of the senior championship since winning the O’Duffy Cup in 2022, Kilkenny were one of the counties placed into the group of six.
This left them with a battle on their hands to secure a top-two spot that would guarantee them a passage to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, but the Noresiders comfortably finished at the summit of the table courtesy of five consecutive group wins.
This means Kilkenny will embark on this weekend’s action in a confident mood and this is something Waterford star Orla Hickey (whose county were assured of at least a quarter-final berth before the All-Ireland championship started) is acutely aware of ahead of their Croke Park clash.
“They’ve been performing great. They’ve won five out of five. You can’t take that credit away from them. I think you can’t underestimate them because they’re such a good team and we have to do our homework on them too,” Hickey said.
“It’s going to be a tough game and we know it’s going to be a different game to what we played in the league. No matter who we play at this stage, it’s going to be tough.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
