The Kerry hurlers got their maiden Leinster championship off to the perfect start against Carlow but manager Ciarán Carey believes there remains huge room for improvement.
The Munster side have been pitted with Westmeath, Offaly and Carlow in the qualifier group, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals against Galway and Laois and the bottom side relegated to next year’s Christy Ring Cup.
The Kingdom continued their upward trajectory at Austin Stack Park, where goals in either half from Shane Nolan and John Egan helped the green and gold to a 2-19 to 0-17 win over the visitors.
"It’s new territory for Kerry and it makes it extra sweet in our backyard"
Carey reflected afterwards on a solid start to their championship campaign but feels they are far from the finished article.
“I’m thrilled. It’s new territory for Kerry and it makes it extra sweet in our backyard,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“We came away with two points, but only hurling to 55% of our potential, so there’s loads to work on.”
Kerry finished bottom of a competitive Munster Hurling League, though they did run Cork to within five points while they also gave a good account of themselves against Limerick in the early season competition.
Coupled with wins over Laois and Offaly in 1B, and an 11-point victory over the O’Moore County in the 1B play-off, Carey says the team coped well with the unfamiliar favourites tag.
“There was a small bit of an extra squeeze on Kerry today," he said.
“They were in a position where they were fancied against Carlow and that is because of the standard they have set themselves in the Munster League and maintaining our status in 1B.”
Kerry and Carlow shared the opening eight points before John Egan goaled to help the Kingdom, to a two-point advantage at the break against a wasteful Carlow side who hit 13 wides in the opening period
With a breeze at their backs they pressed home their advantage to run out eight-point winners.
Next up is Westmeath, who trounced Offaly 2-22 to 1-11, and Carey knows a similar performance will not be good enough next time out.
“I felt the lads were slightly tired today for some reason as well. It’s something we need to be very mindful of taking into consideration we’re playing next Saturday.
“I’ve seen Westmeath play three times this year. They need to be shown respect. They are a top-class team, but at the end of the day it’s what we bring ourselves.”
