Preview: Kildare ladies aiming for knockout blow against Louth this weekend
It’s a third time around this year for these two teams and like all trilogies worth paying your money to see it’s 1-1 heading into the final bout.
Kildare come into this clash with the form of having beaten Louth last time out in the Leinster Championship. But as has often been discussed, The Wee County remain the only side to beat Diane O’Hora’s team this year.
Louth came into this game under pressure and with form against them, in more ways than one with having lost the aforementioned previous clash with Kildare where they came up short at 3-15 to 0-10.
In addition to that, the more crucial dip in form for their season came last week as Leitrim upset the odds to get past the side placed a division above them. A surprise on paper but perhaps not a shock to anyone who was present in Carrick-on-Shannon a couple of weekends ago to see the firepower the Leitrim team so clearly possesses.
Kildare have been exemplary at the back this year and perceived better teams have got far less out of that Lilies backline than 4-8. It was a chaotic game but it's clearly no fluke as Leitrim’s goals saw them over the line against Louth.
That being said, the Leitrim loss makes Louth dangerous. It is a short format and it is now do or die against Kildare for the visiting side. Kildare may be in a strong position but there is plenty of jeopardy left in this group. The top two will emerge at the end of these 60 minutes and both will come out with a serious intent for this game.
The Kildare ladies have had a vastly different year to their male counterparts, but nonetheless will be seeking to replicate a raising of standards for the last game of the group stage. It’s a loose comparison given the year they have each had but the Lilywhite ladies will want a comprehensive showing against Louth following the breathless Leitrim tie.
Kildare are perceived as no worse a team for that crazy game against Leitrim, but there is no doubt that a more complete performance would be welcomed this time around as they (all going well) have the knockout stages and stiffer tests on the horizon.
This Sunday is an interesting battle tactically too, the first game in the league took on a clear pattern as Louth looked to sit in and frustrate Kildare. It worked…kind of. Kildare frustrated themselves as much as anything and registered 14 wides on the day meaning Louth kept the scores down to edge victory. The loss was a lot more dependent on Kildare’s wastefulness than any defensive setup and that waste could be categorised by more than just those efforts wide of the mark.
It may seem silly to say the all out defensive setup didn't work for Louth given the result but management agreed with the sentiment and changed tact for the sides Leinster semi-final clash. The Wee County were more expansive in the second meeting and frankly paid the price as Kildare hit 3-15 on the day.
The two sides of the coin are now even more fascinating here because where does Kit Henry go now? Do you revert to the style that got you the result? It hardly seems right to go more open again, or is there a happy blend of the two that allows the forwards more opportunities while maintaining a shape? Time will tell.
Louth’s tactical setup is one facet of this game but the potency of a firing Kildare forward line could render all this chatter meaningless. Starring roles from any of Róisín Byrne, Neasa Dooley or Lara Curran could see Kildare come out on top regardless of the Louth plans. The same firepower up front is present in few sides in the country and that should carry Kildare very far. And despite last time’s concessions against Leitrim, Kildare have also drastically improved at the back this year.
Kildare should be looking for a win here and to look good doing it, as they seek to head to the knockout stages in white-hot form.
It all goes down at 1:30pm in Manguard Park, Hawkfield.