Williams is new Senior manager

By Michael O'Leary

It took a long time, but finally at the dawn of a new year, all of the Kilkenny Camogie management teams are in place for the upcoming season.

Following the departure of Anne Downey after 4 seasons in charge in which considerable progress was made, Brendan Williams has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading Kilkenny Camogie back with the O'Duffy Cup, as they go in search of their first All-Ireland senior championship since 1994.

Williams was Kilkenny manager previously when they reached the All-Ireland final in 2001 before they suffered a comprehensive 20-point defeat to Tipperary who in the process were completing a hat-trick of consecutive All-Irelands since making the breakthrough in 1999 courtesy of a one-point victory over Kilkenny.

Over the last 6 years, Williams has achieved outstanding success both with the Kilkenny minors and the Loreto School in which they have won a whole host of All-Irelands.

The Minor championship was upgraded to under-18 when it was introduced back in 2006, and Kilkenny won 4 All-Irelands in the trot from 2006-2009 and a whole host of players from that squad have progressed to the Senior panel.

Also, Brendan has achieved major success with Loreto Kilkenny, as he guided the school to their first All-Ireland colleges senior title in March 2010 when they defeated Blackwater Community School by a point. 2-5 to 1-7.

Loreto easily retained the All-Ireland title last March, while Williams has also guided the city school to four All-Ireland Junior titles over the past 5 seasons, as well as leading the school to 6 consecutive 7-a-side All-Ireland titles.

Definitely, the credentials are there, and he is unquestionably the best candidate across the county to lead the way forward towards ending the All-Ireland famine.

The fact that the younger players were under his stewardship when dominating the All-Ireland minor championship from 2006-2009 will be a major advantage.

However, the year has begun on a downbeat note, as Kilkenny are going to be severely depleted ahead of the commencement of the National League without the services of 5 players.

Former captain Anne Dalton who led Kilkenny into the 2009 All-Ireland final defeat to Cork is on her travels down under along with St. Lachtains playing teammate Deirdre Delaney, while Aine Fahey, Edwina Keane and Marie Dargan will also be unavailable for the league campaign.

It's uncertain yet as to whether any of the five will be returning ahead of the start of the championship.
Paul Quigley who was team trainer under Williams minor championship reign will join forces with the Senior management as team trainer, while an unnamed selector from the South of the county will also join forces.
Kilkenny will begin their league campaign away to Cork on February 26th, before a home game against Clare on March 11th.

That will be followed by another home clash against National League and All-Ireland senior champions Wexford on March 25th, before travelling to Dublin on Easter Sunday April 8th.

The league semi-finals are scheduled for Sunday April 29th, before the final a week later on the May Bank Holiday weekend, Sunday May 6th.

The new look All-Ireland senior championship will have 8 teams divided into two groups of with last years All-Ireland semi-finalists seeded.

Kilkenny have been drawn in the same group as Wexford, but won't face them instead in the group stage.
Instead they will play Dublin, Tipperary, Galway and Cork who were drawn in group 1.

Kilkenny will begin their senior championship campaign against Dublin on Saturday June 23rd, before home games on successive Saturday's against Tipperary and Galway on June 30th and July 7th respectively.
Their final group game will be away to Galway on Saturday July 14th.

If Kilkenny top their group of 4 teams in the round robin section, they will go straight into the semi-final on Saturday August 19th. If Kilkenny finish runner-up in that mini-group, they will have to play a quarter-final match on the August Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday August 4th.

The All-Ireland final will take place a week later than usual on Sunday September 16th. Meanwhile, Damian Walsh of Lisdowney is Mr. Williams replacement as minor manager, and the championship will have an earlier start than before.

To avoid a clash with the Senior championship during the Summer, Kilkenny will begin their All-Ireland championship campaign at home to Galway on Saturday February 25th, with the All-Ireland final scheduled to be played 28th April.

Mattie Butler continues as Intermediate manager in 2012, and they will begin their division two league campaign also down leeside against Cork on Sunday February 26th. Kilkenny have home advantage against Tipperary on March 11th, before further games away to Meath on Easter Sunday, before concluding their league campaign at home to Down on April 15th.

The Division two final will be played with the Division One final also on May 6th. The Intermediates will commence their championship campaign on Saturday June 30th at home to Galway, and that will be followed by another home game 7 days later against Tipperary, before away trips to Cork and Wexford to conclude the group phase.

The All-Ireland Intermediate semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday August 25th with the final the same day as the All-Ireland senior final on Sunday September 16th. Paddy Kelly continues with the Under-16s for a third straight year following the heart aching one-point defeat to Tipperary in last years All-Ireland final.
Their championship will commence later than in previous years, and their first game is a repeat of last years All-Ireland final against Tipperary on Sunday June 24th.

A home match Cork follows on Sunday 1st July, before an away game against Limerick on July 8th.
If Kilkenny secure a top spot, an All-Ireland semi-final place awaits on Sunday July 22nd, before the All-Ireland final on the August Bank Holiday weekend, Sunday August 5th.

Finally, Waterford Institute of Technology will stage the Ashbourne Cup, as they attempt to win the competition for the 4th consecutive year. They are captained by Michelle Quilty who is now a master student, and the finals of that competition along with the Purcell and Fr. Meagher competitions will go ahead on the weekend of February 18th/19th.

A hectic year of Camogie to come.