CIAN ANGRY AT LEADING QUESTIONS
Kildare v Galway, Newbridge 2pm
CIAN O’NEILL has rubbished talk that his Kildare team lacks leaders as they battle to avoid a Championship exit.
The Lilies must win in Newbridge today to keep their hopes of reaching the All-ireland semi-finals alive.
Home advantage is a big boost but they’re facing an in-form Galway side that beat Kerry at Croke Park last weekend – immediately after Kildare’s loss to Monaghan.
Boss O’neill took the hump with the suggestion that his team – who went on a 12-game losing streak across 2017 and 2018 – displayed a lack of character against the Farney men.
A frustrated O’neill said: “I really don’t know how to answer that question – we were playing against a team with 14 men behind the ball, in pretty poor conditions.
“Passing, any sort of slick passing, was very, very difficult. We had to be a little more cautious, a little more patient. Leadership doesn’t come into it in that regard.
“And there was only two points in it at the end, we actually missed a couple of chances that could have got us a bit closer or a draw.
“It was just a difficult match and they were a difficult team to play against, a team that people were lauding after Division 1.
“So there’s no shame in going out losing by two points. We were just disappointed that our standards didn’t reach previous weeks.”
Kildare turned the corner on their barren streak by navigating all four rounds of the qualifiers to reach the Super 8s.
But they were outfought and out-thought by Monaghan in the closing 10 minutes or so at Croke Park last Sunday.
The hope now is that they can rekindle the spirit of last month when they beat Mayo at St Conleth’s Park after a giant row about the venue.
O’neill said: “We took on the shots against Monaghan, we just didn’t execute.
“That’s where the improvement is needed. I felt we created enough chances to win that match.
“I think if we’d even taken a fraction of our chances we could have come out the right side. We’d been winning games by shooting 68, 70 per cent of our chances.
“Against Monaghan, we shot 44 per cent. You do the maths.”