Ambitious Monaghan will put an end to Kildare revival
THE turnaround in Kildare’s fortunes is one of the great sporting yarns of the season.
They have gone from a team who lost 10 games on the bounce – capped off by a first defeat to Carlow in over 60 years – to winning four in a row
You could argue that it is five given that their biggest win came against Croke Park – a stance which has unified and emboldened them – and there is a pep to their step which makes them dangerous opponents.
Huge credit for that has to go Cian O’Neill but he also possesses a team of genuine – even at this early stage Daniel Flynn has to have one foot in the All-Star team – quality.
But in making the Super 8s, they ticked their box for the season and from here the climb gets tough.
It starts today against a Monaghan team which has reached the last eight five times in the six-year tenure of Malachy O’Rourke and yet never once made it to the final four.
In that context, reaching the Super 8s will not be enough for Monaghan and at this time of the year ambition tends to serve you well.
And because Kildare, although they work extremely hard, are not going to throw up a Fermanagh-like defensive screen in front of Conor McManus, I fancy Monaghan will draw enough blood to get off to the best of starts.