‘DARE TO BELIEVE..

Dalton: This game is big for the confidence of the Kildare panel but I don’t think it will tell us very much about the Dubs

DAVY DALTON listens to the “hysteria” that surrounds the current Dublin team and rolls his eyes.

Talk of a serious decline doesn’t cut it with him and he points to Kildare’s last League victory over the Dubs in 1995 as a case in point.

The two-point win in Newbridge, a game in which he starred for the home side, effectively condemned Dublin to relegation that year.

Six months later they were All-ireland champions, with 12 of the players that featured against Kildare that afternoon starting the final win over Tyrone – and it likely would have been 13 but for injury to Jack Sheedy.

It was Kildare’s first win of any description over Dublin for 17 years and having been competitive against them in a League final and two Leinster finals prior to that, it might have felt like a landmark result for them.

It didn’t prove to be, however, with Louth sending them packing in the first round of the Championship.

So while Dalton certainly wouldn’t turn his nose up at a Kildare win in tomorrow’s sellout tie and pushing Dublin closer to the relegation trap door like they did back in ‘95, he insists that it must be taken in the right context.

“They got relegated in ‘95 and they went and won an All-ireland so I think the win for

Kildare would mean an awful lot to Kildare confidence-wise,” he said.

“But Dublin losing? I can’t see that being the nail in Dublin’s coffin or anywhere near and anyone that knows anything about football would agree with that. There’s a little bit of hysteria out there.

“If Kildare win it’ll put a bit more confidence in their squad of players that they can believe that they can compete at that level and believing is 90 per cent of the way there.

“If you don’t have the confidence and belief in yourself you’re wasting your time going out in the first place and I think a lot of Kildare teams over the years have lost because they didn’t have that belief so it’s important from a Kildare point of view that they win and they compete.

“They have been competing, they competed with Kerry, they competed last week with Tyrone.

“They have been there or thereabouts, and they went to Donegal and they competed but they have to start winning now as well. That’s the thing.”

There was delirium in Kildare last autumn when Glenn Ryan was announced as new Kildare manager with a host of other former Lilywhite team-mates of Dalton’s – Dermot Earley, Anthony

Rainbow and Brian Lacey, along with John Doyle – part of the wider management team.

The 1997 All Star full-back (inset) insists they must be shown patience.

“It’s a tough station and they have to be given time because it takes time. You might have 10 footballers, you might have 13 footballers on your team but to find the key players in the key positions, you don’t get too many opportunities.

“You play the National League and you play the Championship really and that’s where you find out about players and that’s where they get their experience so the boys need time.

“People forget that Micko (O’dwyer) came in 1990 and there was eight years before we won the Leinster or won anything under him.

“I hope that, whatever else, whether Kildare stay up or go down, that we don’t get too high or too low and give the boys time to build a team and win a Championship.”