Earley plays Down hype after Orchard raid

KILDARE’S victory in Crossmaglen last Sunday raised a few eyebrows, but Dermot Earley has challenged his team-mates to forget that success and reach for even loftier heights.

As opening day shocks go, Kildare’s two-point win superseded even Dublin’s bad-tempered win in Omagh and continues a growing trend of recent round-one tremors such as Longford’s defeat of Kerry in 2004 and Wexford’s six-point success over Armagh 12 months ago.

The lesson for Kildare is neither Longford nor Wexford ultimately managed to achieve their season’s ambitions, the midlanders being relegated and Pat Roe’s side losing the NFL final before falling short of that elusive Leinster final appearance.

“The important thing is not to be happy with this,” said Earley, imperious in midfield in Crossmaglen.

“We really do have to build on this. Our aim is to stay in Division One. We want to win every game. It’s great preparation for the championship.

“If we keep winning and if we find ourselves in a league semi-final then great. We won’t get carried away with ourselves. It’s just a win. We have to follow it up next week.”

Down are next this Sunday in Newbridge, after which John Crofton’s side will meet another Ulster outfit, Paddy Crozier’s Derry, up north.

Galway follow before Kildare close their campaign with three fixtures against fellow provincial hopefuls Meath, Wexford and Laois.

Win on Sunday and the bogey of relegation will have all but disappeared, but it was the manner of the Armagh win, more than the two points it earned, that warmed Kildare hearts.

Conventional wisdom has it that if Armagh are to be overcome, teams need to have shaken them off by the time the final quarter comes around, or at least have built up a formidable lead with 20 minutes to play.

At that stage last Sunday, the teams were inseparable on the scoreboard. Armagh even took a one-point lead with 15 minutes left but only scored once more before the end, as Kildare left them for dust down the straight.

“We were unlucky to lose (in Crossmaglen) by a point last year and we said we’d try to get a positive start to the league. We wanted the two points and were delighted to get them. We played well, got some good scores and worked hard. It’s great to come away from Crossmaglen with two points against the league champions.”