Nolan pins hopes on Kildare young guns

THEY weren’t expecting much in Kildare this summer.

With an injury-ravaged side, a poor league campaign and experienced heads gone, they headed down to Mullingar more out of compulsion than any hope. And within the first minute, their worst fears were confirmed. Longford’s hefty full-forward, Niall Sheridan, had pierced their net.

Smart gamblers felt this was ripe for an upset and for the first 20 minutes or so, that is the pattern it followed. On the sideline, Padraig Nolan never panicked. Under his customary baseball cap, he knew there was enough time and enough good players on his team to pull through.

“I wasn’t unduly worried,” Nolan recalled. “The thing is if you concede a goal in the first minute of the game, there is 70 or more minutes in which to get that goal back. And I saw as the game went on, that the young lads settled down a lot more and forgot about that goal.”

When Micko retreated slightly westward last summer, a lot of his rearguard felt there was more to their lives now than the white jersey. The retirements meant Nolan had to rely more on the street-smarts of the likes of Anthony Rainbow, Glen Ryan and Tadhg Fenin. In the past couple of years, the lack of new talent seeping into the senior side was a bit of a worry for Kildare. Nolan was going to change all that, but it wasn’t part of any great plan.

“I have had to take a chance with the young players. My hand was forced in a way, because many of the ’98 team decided they had ran their course and so we needed new faces in new positions. And another reason is that I am here for three years, so I had to make the decision whether to stick with the older players, who mightn’t be here for three years.

“The only way forward for the younger lads is by actually experiencing it themselves. I can tell them what it is like playing against Meath, but until they step out onto Croke Park and go up against Meath, they won’t truly know what it is like.”

Nolan expects a big enough Kildare contingent to travel to Croke Park this evening, despite the unflattering performance his team gave against Longford. At least, they have decent prospects, something that Kildare football has lacked in the past few years. Stuart McKenzie-Smith, who huffed and puffed without scoring in Mullingar, and lively half-back Micheal Wright offer promise for the future.

But, most eyes will be on young David Lyons. Early on in Mullingar, it looked like Sheridan was going to annihilate the young full-back. But Lyons composed himself and by the end of the game had the big Abbeylara man under control. “There were some encouraging points from that game,” Nolan agrees. “The way David settled into the game was promising. But, we are going to have improve an awful lot for this game.

“Against Longford, we had a lot of possession, but didn’t show it on the scoreboard. We can’t afford to do that against Meath.”

Nolan won’t be drawn on how impressed, or otherwise, he was by Sean Boylan’s team last weekend in Portlaoise, limiting his assessment to, “they have been one of the top teams in the country for the past 20 years. When you play Meath, it is always going to be a tough game.”

“This is another step-up for our younger lads, a greater test for this team. Before the Longford game, circumstances dictated that we handed five young lads their championship debut and they coped very well. Now, they have to take that extra step and see how they cope with a team like Meath in Croke Park. But, they have all shown themselves entitled to their places.”

There won’t be too many betting against Meath this evening, which will suit Nolan just fine. The build-up has been low-key, the expectancy is low. Kildare might even move into the venue that was their home from home during the halcyon Micko years, unnoticed this evening. By half-eight this evening, those white shirts might be back to the forefront of the Gaelic psyche, though.