After years of turmoil and heartbreak Lillies ready to grab chance
KILDARE return to the final of the Christy Ring Cup for the first time since 2007 this Saturday and it has been a long and winding road for the county since they last appeared at this stage of the competition.
Managerial upheaval, player unrest with the county board, and heartbreak on the pitch has been the lot of the Lilywhites until Saturday’s victory over archrivals Meath in the last four. It was only Kildare’s second win at the penultimate stage in seven attempts, including a disappointing surrender to Kerry last year in Tralee and ended a run of three semi-final losses in four years.
However, Kildare manager Brian Lawlor ( below) is insistent that that is not the end of their ambitions.
“A lot of these guys have been playing in this competition for the last six or seven years, it is seven years since they were in the final and they took a beating off Westmeath that day. There has been six years of heartbreak there in quarterfinals and semi-finals, so the guys are just delighted to get back into the final.
“But our main message is that we just don’t want to get to the final, we want to put in a huge performance and win the Christy Ring and we are very positive about that.”
Kildare’s path to the Croke Park decider has already seen them go up against their final opponents Kerry, with the Kingdom prevailing on that occasion, as they did in the league meeting between the counties earlier in the year.
Lawlor, who hails from Kildangan, the same club in Tipperary as Kerry manager Eamonn Kelly, believes though that Kildare have reason to be optimistic when the sides meet again.
“Kerry will be raging hot favourites,” he stated.
“But we’ve played them twice already this year and had a progression in our performance from the first day to the second day and that is what we are looking for this time again to give them a right game again on Saturday.”
Kildare saw off Wicklow, after a replay, before they suffered defeat at the hands of the Kerry men in Newbridge by eight points just over three weeks ago. The Lilywhites picked themselves up and they travelled to Derry where they blitzed a lacklustre home side in the quarter-final, 2-16 0-10.
That set up a renewal of their rivalry with Meath in Trim last weekend and they made no mistake this time around, as full-forward Tony Murphy’s goal inside the opening twenty seconds, replicating Shane Nolan’s early green flag for Kerry in the other semi-final, gave them the perfect platform for victory.
They did not have it all their own way however and an excellent defensive display including a string of important saves from the outstanding Paul Dermody kept the Royals at bay at various stages of the contest.
Full-back Fiachra Ó Muineachaín, who missed Kildare’s previous encounter with Kerry due to injury, marshalled the defence superbly and two clean sheets in their last two games will be something that the Lilies hope to continue if they are to have any hope of overcoming Eamon Kelly’s troops.
The mood in the Kildare camp though is buoyant. Games have been coming thick and fast, the replay with Wicklow and defeat to Kerry eating up any possible weekends off for the side, but they have managed to avoid injury and are extremely excited to get back to Croke Park.
While it is seven years since they last contested a final there, they did have the opportunity to play Wicklow there in the league last year as part of a double-header with Kildare’s footballers, so are no strangers to Headquarters.
The starting fifteen has seen little change over the last few games bar the return of Ó’Muineacháin to the line-up and he is part of a very experienced defence including a survivor from the ’07 final, David Harney.
Eanna O’Néill, captain, Neil Ó Muineacháín and Richie Hoban present an athletic and formidable halfback line, while Mark Moloney and Martin Fitzgerald have shown themselves to be an excellent midfield pairing since Moloney was moved to the middle third of the pitch in recent games.
Confey star Paul Divilly as ever will be a constant danger to the Kingdom with his unerring accuracy from frees a great weapon in the Kildare armoury. Inside him is likely to be the Celbridge duo of Tony Murphy and the electric Gerry Keegan, a young star who can light up any occasion with his touch, pace and eye for a score.
The rapid succession of games and past defeats has bonded the Lilywhites together and they are a close knit bunch, who will wear the tag of outsiders lightly. Kerry have been warned.