Win or bust as Kildare take on Louth again
Tommy Callaghan previews this weekend's huge clash between Kildare and Louth in the Leinster SFC semi-finals with massive implications for The Lilies season
Back when the draw for the Leinster Senior Football Championship was made a quick perusal suggested Kildare were on the 'soft' side of things.
No Dublin. No Meath.
An opening game against the winners of Westmeath and Wicklow and, if as expected, a win in that followed by a semi-final date with either Louth or Wexford.
Wicklow did not read it that way and caused a major upset defeating Westmeath while Louth, after an early fright, came through in flying colours against Wexford.
And while The Lilies advanced from their quarter-final against the men from the Garden County it was far from straight-forward, after looking on their way; conceded a penalty; should have conceded a second goal before Jack Sargent came to the rescue with that fisted point that saw them over the line; winning their first competitive game of 2024 after losing all seven league games and, unfortunately, being relegated to the Division 3.
On top of that Kevin Flynn was shown a straight red in the 30 minute, a red, unless overturned —highly unlikely — will see him miss Sunday's clash.
On top of that Kildare were also hit with injuries.
Team captain, Mick O'Grady, was forced off after just 23 minutes, Brian Byrne coming in and then the Naas man was forced off on 64 minutes; while before that Daniel Flynn was also off with a knee injury, replaced by Paddy Woodgate.
So while some might suggest Kildare were fortunate to defeat Wicklow, on the other hand such has been Kildare's ill-luck with a spate injuries, few could begrudge The Lilies a break that saw them over the line.
Kildare, of course, played Louth in Round 7 of the Allianz Football League; a game that was of no relevance to The Lilies as they were already relegated while there was a lot at stake for Ger Brennan's side as they needed the win to be certain of retaining their divisional status.
In the end there were three points separating the sides that day (Louth 1-12 Kildare 0-12) the boys from the Wee County fully deserved their win in Carlow.
Louth have a well-settled side at the minute and barring some injuries the team that will line out on Sunday will probably differ very little from the league win.
There starting side against Wexford was more or less the same as well, with a few positional positions but as we all know these day, numbers mean very little in the modern game..
Ger Brennan's side have in Ciaran Downey a classy forward who will test the best of any defences.
Ryan Burns hit 1-2 against Kildare, getting in behind the Kildare defence to find the net for that vital score.
Sam Mulroy, who lines out at full forward may not have the 'legs' he once had but he knows his football; is more than capable and is experienced and a fine free taker.
Mulroy did not score from open play against Kildare but notched up five points (4 frees and a 45) while against Wexford two weeks ago, he once again did not score from play but still finished with an impressive 2-4 which included two penalties and four frees; so definitely fouling will be severely punished by Mulroy.
The St Martin's man certainly has his followers within his own county but for some reason also has his distracters but regardless he is a quality player who takes some minding.
Scoring 4-10 against Wexford was impressive and while two of the goals were from the penalty spot (and they should have got another) the other two green flags from Ciaran Downey emphasises the quality player he is.
Kildare will be hoping that some of the injuries picked up against Wicklow, and indeed from earlier in the season, will have abated.
Kildare, despite that win over Wicklow are still, no doubt, in a very vulnerable position.
On the plus side they played for well in excess of 40 minutes minus a man and still managed to get over the line. They showed plenty of bottle that day; they worked their socks off and when it seemed that their bad luck was once again about to visit them they had the wherewithal to remain cool and calm.
From the final kick-out they gained possession through Alex Beirne who found Kevin Feely and while the Athy man's scoring attempt was off-target nevertheless man-of-the-match Niall Kelly gained possession, got it off to Jack Sargent who punched over for that vital point.
So while a one point win over Wicklow is hardly earth shattering by any stretch and Louth will start as favs a win for Kildare would not be any great surprise.
If they can get any kind of a break, with injuries and in the game, they can still advance to the final and a meeting with Dublin.
And while that may not be too enticing it would guarantee a place in the All-Ireland series.