Curtin hails 'savage' intensity of Kildare teammates after his MOTM performance

“The most important thing today was getting two points on the board because we didn’t get that last week. Antrim hadn’t got any points on the board yet either so it was a really important game there today and I think it showed, there was savage intensity there in the first half and we kept plugging away, went in a couple (three) points ahead and just managed to get the goals there today at the start of the second half,” the words of Man of the Match Muiris Curtin after Kildare's win over Antrim.

“A month ago, they got two on us in the Walsh Shield at the start of the second half. Really happy with the performance but again, bits to improve on as well.”

Before going on to discuss his two brilliant goals, the first of which has been shared widely in the days since, the Moorefield man was full of praise for his teammates behind him.

He said, “The lads in the middle worked absolutely unbelievably, there wasn’t one Antrim fella there that had a second to pick out a pass, (Daire) Guerin and Macca (Cathal McCabe) were unbelievable. Our tackle count was way up above normal so that was definitely a positive, Brian was happy with that. That sets a platform then, it makes our job inside a lot easier when the lads are working so hard out the field.”

The forward was modest about his two goals but an anecdotal acknowledgement of their quality was the reaction of the press box, which applauded in shock and delight at the nature of the first and soon after the second.

“High ball, it was probably the only one I caught all day, there was a lot that got broken away, so once I got it in my hand I just dropped the shoulder. I didn’t actually connect with it very well but it went in, another day it could have gone wide so I was just happy to get that goal at an important time in the game,” Curtin said.

“I was disappointed with the third one (shot) but again, the shift the lads put in out the field left the space inside for us to get on them passes and create scoring opportunities. I got them today but another day it could be Cathal Dowling or Gerry Keegan that sticks them so it doesn’t really matter once we get the two points.”

After a stellar win and the first of their league campaign, The Lilies face Clare at Cedral St Conleth’s Park next.
Curtin concluded, “There is no easy in this division and we are under no illusions with Clare, they are absolutely unbelievable, so we are just going to have to knuckle down.”

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