McGeeney: I erred taking O’Neill off

KIERAN McGEENEY admitted to making a mistake in withdrawing goalscorer Pádraig O’Neill in the first half of Kildare’s shock Leinster SFC defeat by Louth last Saturday.

But the Armagh man rejected any suggestions the loss would not have hurt him as a non-native, insisting “it kills me”.

McGeeney and his selectors, Niall Carew and Aidan O’Rourke, have been heavily criticised for their own performances on Saturday but especially the call on O’Neill, who was replaced by Dermot Earley in the 29th minute despite having scored 1-1.