PREVIEW: Lenehan ready to lead Kildare into All-Ireland opener
Daragh Nolan spoke to Kildare captain Laoise Lenehan ahead of The Lilies' TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship opener against Meath this weekend
The Kildare ladies are now faced with the consequences of their own success with tough challenges on the horizon in this year’s TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Things don’t get easier at the top and, after Mayo and Dublin in 2024, it is Meath and Ulster champions Armagh in their 2025 group.
Kildare, much like they did last year, head into the 2025 All-Ireland series with an impressive, albeit different, league campaign behind them.
The Lilies will be hoping those cases are in stark contrast to one another with a Division 2 win in ‘24 being followed by several stern Championship defeats.
The Lilies picked up three wins in Division 1 this year with Dublin, Meath, and Tyrone falling to Pat Sullivan’s side.
However, with Leinster losses to the first two names on that list, it remains to be seen what will come of this year’s endeavours at the business end of things.
Speaking to the Leinster Leader at the SFC launch Kildare captain Laoise Lenehan said: I feel like we got great experience from playing Division 1 this year. We were happy enough with our league performance staying up, but a little bit disappointed with the Leinster Championship and coming up short on getting to a Leinster final, and losing to Meath by a point. It is all a great experience for us and we are really looking forward to the All-Ireland championship series now.”
Those Leinster defeats were less than informative measuring sticks for Kildare with their performance against The Dubs laden with mistakes, but still being an improvement on 12 months ago as they demonstrated an increased ability to cover the ground being eaten up by those in blue.
The Lilies were then pipped by a point to Meath after a slow start and, while stumbling out of the traps was not in the playbook, Kildare looked like a team who belonged at the top level.
Lenehan explained, “Our first half wasn’t good enough against Meath this year and we did manage to come back and then lose by one. We know that at this level, Senior Championship, that you can’t afford to be not playing your best football for a half. It is too much to come back from. We know that we have to play our best and any mistake that we make will be punished and we have to start doing that to other teams as well.
“We cannot afford to be making silly mistakes in the way we could in Intermediate Championship or Division 2 or 3. Now, every single mistake you make, is punished at the other end of the pitch. We know that we have to come out for every game at 100% and can’t leave things to the second half. It has been a good learning experience to this point so hopefully we have better success with that in the All-Ireland campaign.”
Alongside the Royals and The Lilies in Group 3 are Ulster Champions Armagh, who retained their provincial title in a repeat of last year’s final as they comfortably beat Donegal 3-9 to 0-7 in Clones. The women in orange also handed Kildare a convincing 2-15 to 1-7 league loss in Silverbridge.
“Armagh were really, really strong. Personally I think that was our toughest game in the league. We lost a couple of games, but I thought they were very tough. They have really strong runners, great forwards, and as a back it was really hard to defend against. They have been a great team for the past few years in Division 1 and Senior Championship, but we now have a better understanding of their style of play and hopefully we can adapt ourselves a little bit better this time around. That is the beauty of the league and getting to play everyone in Division 1, we understand each of their systems much better now. Hopefully we can perform better this time around,” Lenehan recalled.
“Their wing-backs were coming in, Blaithin Mackin was scoring as well. It is really hard when their wing-backs and centre-back are coming through and also getting on the scoreboard, which is a huge credit to them because they are a really strong side. We just have to know to tag that as well and know their system better.”
The headaches caused by the blistering pace and outstanding scoring of that Armagh side will be a problem for new manager of 2025 Pat Sullivan to figure out.
The Waterford-native replaced Diane O’Hora ahead of this year’s campaign and The Lilies now have two tournaments behind them under his tutelage.
“It is good to have the League and Leinster Championship as a learning curve before you get to the All-Ireland series, especially when you get new management. We definitely all got to know each other better and all the new girls have really slotted in well. We are understanding ourselves better as a team and learning who fits where and what is best, so everything has been a great learning experience so far. I think we have really improved since our first game under Pat and the new management,” Lenehan explained.
A noticeable difference in watching the new-look Lilies has been huge strength and conditioning improvements and an increased tactical flexibility.
Sullivan has demonstrated a willingness to change how he matches his side up against the various opponents that they have faced to this point.
“In fairness to Pat, he has been really good at adapting. We play the team a certain way for the team we are playing. I think it is really important that we have been able to adapt, people swapping around positions, and it is good that all of our backs can attack and all of our forwards can defend as well. We are all able to chop and change instead of being rigid in position.”
“I was happy in my ways at full-back, but Pat has challenged me to push on and drive out, which is a new thing for me but we have been working on it really hard in training. In fairness to him, he has been pushing all of us to do that and it is really important because you don’t know who is going to be injured or have to play where. You play where you're put and you’re happy.”
2025 has been an enormous year of change for Kildare with their new management bringing about massive squad changes and Division 1 football being a first for most involved. It has also been a special campaign for their captain who steps into that role for the first time after long-time skipper Grace Clifford departed to start a family. The Kill defender was vice-captain under Clifford and says not too much changed in her new role.
She said, “It is a young side but (are things different?) definitely not. There are really strong leaders on the team so the captain doesn’t take away from the role of the other people. The likes of Róisín Byrne, Claire Sullivan, Ellen Dowling, Ruth Sargent, they are all really well established girls and they drive the team on as well. It (captain) is a bit of a title, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am dictating everything on the pitch, there are plenty around me to support too.”
After Meath and Armagh’s clash at the weekend, Kildare face The Royals at home on Saturday, June 14 and face the Ulster champions Armagh on the final day of Group 3 on Saturday, June 21 to decide their fate for the remaining action of 2025.
Cill Dara abú!