LILYWHITE KNIGHTS
Kildare’s crusaders march on with rout of Fermanagh
‘I FOUGHT the law and…’ Maybe Christy Moore can rework the old Clash classic to fit with Kildare’s stand against officialdom, one which has seen them use the public stance over St Conleth’s Park to relaunch their season.
The law didn’t win as Kildare’s rage against the machine paid off in the most dramatic of circumstances, first knocking out Mayo in Newbridge and then routing Fermanagh in round four of the qualifiers last night in Navan.
Expect the t-shirts to be printed soon: ‘Super 8s or nowhere.’
The standing ovation at halftime was the latest example of how Cian O’Neill and his team have reconnected with their supporters after insisting that the round three qualifier against Mayo had to be played in Newbridge, forcing Croke Park into a climbdown after re-fixing it for HQ.
By that stage, the team that crashed out of the Leinster Championship in disastrous fashion were 1-13 to 0-5 ahead, re-invigorated and revitalised via the qualifiers. And they were full value for it too, eight different scorers showing the confidence coursing through the team.
Yesterday’s qualifier action means there is just one more piece left in the Super 8s quarterfinal puzzle. The win means Kildare slot into the group with Munster champions Kerry, Connacht champions Galway and the winners of the outstanding round four qualifier tie, Monaghan/Laois, which takes place today.
After the tanking by Donegal in the Ulster final, Fermanagh’s own confidence must have been brittle and this defeat continues the miserable record of beaten provincial finalists in the qualifiers, Cork also hammered yesterday by Tyrone with Roscommon the only one to win against the head.
Unless Laois upset Monaghan this afternoon, then the roundrobin All-Ireland quarter-finals will be a glorified version of Division One, minus Mayo. Every other county will have played in the top flight this season, or will be playing in it next season.
Fermanagh had everyone behind the ball bar Seamus Quigley early on and almost had the perfect start when Eoin Donnelly hit the crossbar with a shot. With goalkeeper Mark Donnellan well off his line, it wasn’t 100 per cent clear whether it he meant to lob the keeper or was trying to clip a point, though the umpires ruled that it hadn’t crossed the line when it bounced down and out.
A Kevin Feely mark allowed a quick ball to Paul Cribbin who boomed over a fantastic right foot point, continuing his form shown against Mayo.
Then Daniel Flynn found the net in the seventh minute. Fergal Conway made a superb mark from the kick-out and set off before delivering a quick ball in on top of Flynn on the edge of the square. The full-forward fielded brilliantly, turned, dodged a second defender and angled the ball low past Patrick Cadden.
Less than seven minutes gone and Kildare were 1-3 to 0-1 to the good.
They should have had a second soon after when Paul Cribbin threaded a neat ball inside to Eoin Doyle who laid it off to Keith Cribbin who really should have scored only to see a weak enough shot saved.
Neil Flynn didn’t let the mistake of dropping short a very scoreable free get to him as he showed great confidence to clip a point from the right hand side.
Kildare’s kick-outs were a feature, Mark Donnellan pinging balls to his men, Paddy Brophy and Fergal Conway among the variety of options.
Wing back Kevin Flynn then cut inside to curl a cracking score over from all of 40 metres and by the time Daniel Flynn waltzed through to hit another, it was 1-13 to 0-5 and all over bar the shouting.
Especially when Kildare worked a brilliant second goal, Tommy Moolick’s flick down to Eoin Doyle creating the overlap for Neil Flynn to flick the ball to an empty net.
Fermanagh did push forward to kick some good scores, Sean Quigley hitting three from the bench and Tomas Corrigan adding a brace while Seamus Quigley’s free-taking helped to bring them to the 18-point mark.
As Cian O’Neill ran his bench, each player jogging off to an ovation, the scores kept coming, Chris Healy one of those to make an impact with two quality, individual points before tucking the ball in the top corner of the net with the last attack.
The Super 8s coming to St Conleth’s is the big story.