Memories of ’03 still haunt Doyle
JOHN DOYLE isn’t sure if has a copy of the 2003 Leinster football final buried somewhere at home. Kildare captain on a day when the provincial landscape was very different, Laois the opponents at Croke Park, he explains that ‘you tend to remember the good days a bit better’.
His mam used to tape the big games and he had grand ambitions of copying them on to DVD. Sure there’s still time.
It remains to be seen when the next Kildare-Laois Leinster final occurs, given Dublin’s over-arching dominance since 2005, but it won’t happen this year with the counties locking horns this afternoon in Tullamore in a quarter-final.
In keeping with the unpredictable nature of the rivalry, Doyle’s memories are of a frenetic encounter in which Kildare midfielder Alan Barry walked after just four minutes on a second yellow card. Laois lost wing-back Kevin Fitzpatrick only for Kildare to finish out the last quarter with 13 men when Mick Wright was sent off.
Throw in the Mick O’Dwyer factor and Kildare coming back to level from six down before Laois kicked on and this one had everything.
‘In defeat, you just want to get off the pitch as quick as you can. I suppose the fact that we were in a Leinster final the year before with Micko as manager. Micko had finished up and there were lots of people around the players saying, “Micko should have been kept on… we shouldn’t have let him go.” And the next thing he was gone down the M7.’
Right then, there was no sight nor sound of a Dublin juggernaut steering into view.
Doyle had his Leinster medal from 2000 and was appearing in his third final in four seasons.
And then Dublin took over. ‘They came in a spurt. They’d won Leinsters but were struggling to make the next level. In ’08, Tyrone beat them, Kerry beat them well in ’09 so they were spluttering along. But then when they did come, they definitely arrived.’
After a muted first season under former Mayo and Kerry coach Cian O’Neill, it’s as if Kildare football has rediscovered its mojo in 2017. Defeat in the Division 2 final didn’t take the gloss off the key target of promotion to the League’s top flight and with Laois going the other way over the course of the spring, Kildare have a spring in their step.
Doyle admits to being pleasantly surprised. ‘Coming last year from Division 3 — you would have been disappointed not to beat Clare in a tight match in Croke Park [in the final].
‘Coming into Division 2, I certainly didn’t see us going straight up. We’d a young player base as well in terms of age. I thought an extra year or two in Division 2 would be needed to blood lads. But they started with a cracking win against Meath and went from there. That’s where teams want to be.
‘I certainly wouldn’t have felt comfortable talking about winning All Irelands — people would think you’re off your head. So it’s stepping stones.’
While much has been made of bright young Kerry talent Mark O’Connor being recruited by Tadhg Kennelly to AFL outfit Geelong, Kildare have been affected more than most in recent years. While Doyle is delighted to see Paddy Brophy back in harness, the former All-Star said the lure of foreign shores and a professional game is hard to combat.
‘Faraway fields are always greener. Going to Australia, being a professional athlete, being paid for it — isn’t it great? There’s a bit of that about it. But the reality is very much different.
‘There’s a big problem filling time, or if you pick up an injury. But would you blame a lad for trying? No. The lads are amateur; they don’t sign a contract. The GAA don’t have any contractual rights over any player.
‘It would be a pity though to lose any of our future stars. The Diarmuid Connollys, Colm Coopers, Cillian O’Connors — they are the superstars. And we need superstars in our game. The young lad who puts that name on the back of the jersey might never be the next star but he’ll dream of being one.
‘Kildare need the likes of Daniel Flynn, Paddy Brophy, Paul Cribbin. The speculation would be that if we had them, we’d have won All-Irelands. The reality might be somewhat different.’
A first-round win over Longford has helped Laois put a trying spring behind them and Doyle is wary of the challenge that awaits. ‘I guess it’s the scars of playing and being a Kildare supporter — you’re never going to get too far ahead of yourself. I would have been very upbeat going into the Division 2 final but then we diverted back to… not being afraid but not having a proper cut at them.’
And as the example of 2003 shows, past Championship history suggests anything can happen. Doyle remembers 1997 and another day 13-man Kildare stole the show against Laois.
‘A lot of it is mental. Let’s be straight about it: if a Division 1 team was playing a Division 4 team you’d say, “There’s only one winner here.” But the Laois mentality of playing Kildare is a different animal.’