Kildare captain tempers expectations on young Lilies in Leinster

The modern GAA calendar leaves little time for reflection and maybe that fact might serve to benefit Kildare following Division 3 final disappointment. They are straight back on the horse with their Leinster Championship opener against Westmeath this Saturday at 7pm in Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

Speaking at the launch of the Leinster Football Championship, Kildare captain Kevin Feely said that the difference players have felt following the St Conleth’s redevelopment has even surprised him.

He recalled, “We played Galway in a challenge match and it was such a pleasant surprise at the atmosphere and how many people were there. There was a sense of pride that every player felt in having the facilities that we have with the dressing rooms, new stand, and the bigger pitch.

“It was a bigger sense of pride than I thought it would and that carried over into the league. It seemed to give us a little bit that extra energy boost and undoubtedly our three home games were our three best performances in the league. It has been huge for us.”

It hasn’t been breaking news for quite some time that Kildare would face Westmeath in their Leinster opener and that has given both sides plenty of opportunity to evaluate things based on their respective league form.

Feely said, “As much as we are taking each game as it comes, you are keeping an eye on how Westmeath are going. They are probably the unluckiest team in any of the leagues so far. They have been agonisingly close to winning games in Division 2 with what looks like brilliant performances.

“There are potentially a couple of lads to come back into their squad for Championship too, so we are under no illusion as to how big of a test this is going to be, but huge excitement for the first home Leinster game that any of us have played.”

Kildare’s real cause for concern against Offaly, at least from the stands, was the lack of dynamism in attack with the counter-
attacking Offaly looking threatening every time they picked up possession. The Lilies were slow and static when attempting to mount pressure and it did make for frustrating watching on occasion.

Despite Kildare perhaps creating enough chances to win the game with 13 wides and multiple goal chances passed up.

Decision-making
“We probably came into the Offaly game off the back of a couple of performances where our decision-making wasn’t great in attack and came into the game with the approach of being more controlled and a little bit more composed in our attacking play. In terms of how it looks, it looks less off the cuff and fast and with Offaly that is their big strength. Those fast, nippy players who love taking you on and they used those to great effect in the two games against us,” Feely said.

“It certainly wasn’t our intention to be as static as we were at times. We would have liked to have been a little bit more incisive in our play, but the aim going into that game was to build confidence and build momentum by chipping off easy scores where we can. Then take opportunities to go fast after we have built more energy and confidence in the game.”

So how do Kildare shape up? A disappointing defeat to Clare and punished twice by a quick and dynamic Offaly side. The top line on Kildare’s league season may be The Lilies’ inconsistencies, but the bottom line is promotion.

“Happy with promotion is our overall take. We are disappointed in the games that we lost because they are games we could have very easily won if we had tidied up on a few different things. You can’t come away from either of the two Offaly games and not admit that they were the better team in both of those. Having analysed them early on, you look at our conversion rate and how many shots we are getting away with, which is really high but the conversion rate is really low. It is very easy to see why we lost both of those games,” Feely explained.

“It was a similar story against Clare as well so hopefully those are things that we tidy up with a little bit of extra practice and a little bit of analysis on our decision-making. In general, the goal was absolutely to get promoted, that has been done and we have had some roadblocks along the way. Hopefully those are the only roadblocks we’ll face in terms of getting our performances a little bit more consistent. Overall, we are really happy with it.”

It is safe that Kildare’s shortcomings in a couple of league games have tempered expectations following the initial excitement and the dawn of a new era.

Lift the spirits
A new stadium, new manager, and a crop of young and exciting players brought in was bound to lift spirits. The Kildare captain is not swimming against that lowering of what might be expected of Kildare this year, particularly considering the turnover of players.

“This has been the first year for a long-time where we have transitioned a lot of lads at the same time into the team. Those lads that have come in have had a huge impact straight away and been regular starters straight away.

“James McGrath, Colm Dalton, Ryan Sinkey, and there are others like Harry O’Neill and Ryan Burke who have all established themselves as nearly nailed on starters,” Feely explained.

“They have brought a fearlessness and a freshness to their play as well, which, given the scars we have from the last three years, was definitely lacking in us. It is the first time since my own age or Niall Kelly and David Hyland’s age where a big bunch of lads came through at the same time and they have certainly made an impact. It is the sign of a very bright future.”

The Kildare captain was incredibly candid about what should be expected of Kildare this year and downplayed the importance of an All-Ireland series campaign, citing Kildare’s relatively early Tailteann Cup exit last year.

“It is probably not as important as other years in terms of where we are in our development. When you think of there being Offaly, Meath, Westmeath, Louth, ourselves, any of those teams could beat each other on any given day. There is very little difference in the ability of those teams. It will be who performs on the day really,” Feely said.

“To say that it is essential for us to be in an All-Ireland series when we know how competitive this Leinster campaign is going to be is going a little bit too far. It could well be that we end up in the Tailteann Cup and, if we do, we just have to make sure we bring our best performances to that.

“Obviously our ambition is to try and be in an All-Ireland series, but in terms of our development and progression from last year it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we did end up in the Tailteann Cup. The main ambition is to win every game and try to get into the All-Ireland series.”

The tempering of expectations may serve to protect Kildare’s young players who will be looking to find their feet in Champion-
ship football this Saturday and beyond, but make no mistake that excitement and pressure will be present under the lights in Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Saturday evening.

Saturday: Kildare v Westmeath, throw-in 7 pm.

READ NEXT: Mick O'Dwyer's funeral hears of his specific 'pride' over days as Kildare manager