Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Previous editions
Thursday, July 09, 2009
WHEN Kildare’s management sat down after last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Cork, one key decision headed their 2009 to do list.
WHEN Kildare’s management sat down after last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Cork, one key decision headed their 2009 to do list.
Though they had made progress through the qualifiers it did not mask the fact that they were struggling in the creativity stakes. Kieran McGeeney, Paul Grimley and Niall Carew concluded that a playmaker was required and it didn’t take long to come up with a candidate.
Mikey Conway is a forward. And always has been. He possesses a sweet left boot and has long been considered to have huge potential. The Nurney man had recovered from a cruciate knee ligament injury to become a county senior but wasn’t setting the world on fire. One switch to wing-back later and he is now a 2009 success story.
He fobs off a question about whether or not he thought management had lost their senses when the switch was mooted.
"I don’t know," he laughs.
"I’d have been happy enough to play in any jersey for Kildare. If I had to play in goals, I’d play in goals.
"It’s going well enough. You’re getting more of the ball and you’re running towards goals more than with your back to it and the corner-back stuck to you. I’m getting a good lot of breaks and I’m enjoying my football there."
Last year’s run galvanised the squad, and with the benefit of two good wins over Offaly and Wexford, Kildare remained calm in the face of Laois’ opening onslaught in Tullamore.
"We had a poor enough start but we stuck to the game plan and plugged away. We got a goal at the right time and a few points after that. That’s what happens. Laois did it to us a few years ago and that’s the way it goes.
"It’s confidence in winning the last two championship matches. Winning matches in the league helped us a lot as well. We’re a confident enough team and while we’re up against it in the final, we’ll give it a lash."
Conway missed the Wexford match due to a ligament injury to the same knee in which he had torn his cruciate. He was relieved to learn that there were no long term difficulties.
"It was probably 80% for the Wexford match. If I was forced to I could have played but it’s probably better off I didn’t as I got an extra week or two. It was fine (for the Laois game)."
Like everyone else in the Kildare camp, he is keen to talk up Dublin but insists that they would not have been focusing on the opposition style of play in the build up to the Leinster final.
"You can’t really worry about other teams. We have a game plan and stick to it. We try and play our own game. Dublin are a serious outfit. We’ll be up against it but sure we’ll give it a go."
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