Preview: Kildare ladies face Down as they get their league campaign under way this weekend
The Kildare ladies open their Lidl National Football League campaign this weekend against Down, the Lilywhite ladies opening fixture is scheduled for Sunday in St.Conleth’s park at 2pm.
There has been a change on the sideline for Kildare this time around as Sean Finnegan departed after the end of last season. New Kildare boss Diane O’Hora named her squad for the upcoming campaign and she will be looking to add to the good work done by the previous boss.
Kildare had cause for celebration in 2022 as they took home a super Leinster Championship title but failed to truly leave their mark on the national stage. No doubt their league campaign will be building towards a much stronger All-Ireland Intermediate campaign this year.
Kildare sit in the division three and will come up against Clare, who were relegated from Division 2 in 2022 as well as Down, Louth, Longford, Sligo, Wexford and newly promoted Offaly.
O’Hara and her team have built towards this opening fixture against Down and the management and players alike see a positive start as crucial to their campaign.
Kildare Captain Grace Clifford flagged in previous interviews with the Leinster Leader that the Kildare ladies see themselves as contenders in Division three and above but have often fallen victim to the shortened format. Once again reiterating the need for a positive start. That being said the format has been adjusted for 2023 with Division 3A and 3B, that were topped by Down and Kildare respectively, joining together to form an eight team Division 3 league.
Kildare have the luxury of their opening two games being home fixtures as the always competitive Longford will be visitors to St.Conleth’s Park in the second round of games. That comes before the showdown with Clare, who have recently suffered the drop from the division above.
Similar to last year, Kildare will once again be looking to take things one step further in 2023. Following a Leinster title in 2022 and an All-Ireland Intermediate semi-final in the year prior, this season is seen as a key time for Kildare to progress on both a league and Championship front.