Backward step works for forward-thinking Conway

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.