Carlow hurling manager Pat Bennett believes that Croke Park “don’t really care” about teams like Carlow and Kildare.

The Barrowsiders’ boss was speaking after his side’s Division 1B sixth round defeat to the Lilywhites in Newbridge on Sunday which now leaves them on the cusp of relegation ahead of their final round meeting with promotion-chasing Dublin on March 21st.

Bennett, who is in his first season in charge of Carlow, believes that more needs to be done to help teams outside the top 10 to try and raise their standard and compete at the highest level.

"The Tipperarys, the Corks, the Galways, they are going to keep churning out players. The Carlows, Laois’ and Westmeaths aren’t. They need to be helped,” the Waterford man is quoted saying by RTE Sport.

"If Kildare go straight back down again (from his year’s Leinster championship), is that going to help them? No. They need to be up there.

"My thing is, they don’t really care in Croke Park. It doesn’t really make a difference what we do, or what we try to do.

"They don’t care about a Carlow, a Kildare…if Kildare go down from the Leinster championship, do they worry? They don’t worry.

"That’s the way they run it. They don’t really care too much so we just keep doing our best."

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