Jury remains out on the Lilywhites

THIS game could have been a blowout.

Last year Kildare took on a Monaghan side reeling from their provincial final loss and beat them by four but in truth they were never in any danger.

The week was dominated by talk of the six-day turnaround and Kildare’s showing in the qualifiers under Kieran McGeeney so I went into Croke Park expecting an annihilation.