Mac Lochlainn out to break Dubs' Leinster monopoly
A corner-back by trade, he could have thought ‘there but for the grace of God...’ but Mac Lochlainn comes across as the kind of guy who would rather stick his head in the lion’s mouth than run for his life and his chance to do some taming came soon enough.
With just 15 minutes gone, he was let off the leash by Kieran McGeeney, stationed in a rattled full-back line that had a teeming Hill 16 at their backs and a buzzing Dublin forward line smelling blood after the early slaughter.
He loved every minute of it.
“It was a very fast game,” he recalls with some relish. “It was very end to end. Games between Kildare and Dublin are always high-paced. Dublin are a very fit and fast team so unless you match them physically with your pace and power you’re going to be left behind. Notoriously, Dublin start quite fast. They are a high-scoring team. They can get goals at any stage. Their forwards, even when there’s an easy point on, look for a goal. They have that creativity..”
Kildare had already begun to settle by the time Mac Lochlainn appeared on the scene but Dublin claimed a second goal that day, one that ultimately proved the difference between the sides, and their ruthlessness in that department has been highlighted time and again this season.
Eighteen goals in eight league games served notice of their capabilities during the spring and, though they only added one more in their provincial quarter-final, it would have been four or five had Laois goalkeeper Eoin Culliton not had a day of days.
Kildare don’t lean so heavily on their custodian. Meath’s Graham Geraghty was deprived a green flag three weeks ago but, that aside, McGeeney’s back-line coped commendably with a talented and physically imposing Royal attack.
Dublin’s forward line is more nuanced than Meath’s however and, while Bernard Brogan will be the focus of most people’s attentions, Mac Lochlainn is wary of a multi-faceted threat that extends far beyond their designated sharpshooters.
“We do have a very tight defence but all their forwards can score. A midfielder could come through. They’re very attack-minded and they have a very mobile midfield. Diarmuid Connolly’s on fire at the moment as well. Alan Brogan, over the years, he used to have to fly the flag for Dublin on his own previously in years gone by and he’s finding a lot of form now.”
Mac Lochlainn has heard the refrain that, with Wexford and Carlow providing an unusual semi-final on the other half of the draw, this is — to all intents and purposes the ‘de facto’ Leinster final but his refusal to take anything for granted is understandable.
Now 27, Mick O’Dwyer used him for a few league games back in 2002 when he was still a schoolboy but the Kerryman was in charge of Laois a year later when they saw off Mac Lochlainn and Kildare in the Leinster final.
A lot has changed since, even his name. Once known simply as Andrew McLoughlin, his grá for the gaeilge prompted the change but he is still waiting to get his paws on that elusive Delaney Cup.
“Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to talk about the ones I’ve won yet.
“Hopefully, before I finish up I’ll have some silverware. But most people only remember the ones they lost. They can concentrate on the things that went wrong. It’s fractions. It’s tiny little things that may have gone wrong. A little bit of luck here and there for a ball to bounce the right way for you to save a goal or to get a goal.”
Kildare have seen both sides of that coin. Last year, it was Benny Coulter being allowed to trespass into the Kildare square and fist a crucial goal, this year it was Geraghty whose comeback was denied fairytale status in similar circumstances. That book may be balanced but Mac Lochlainn is still short a medal or two and to rectify that, Kildare need to end a run of defeats in key games, to sides like Cork, Tyrone, Down and, last but not least, the Dubs.
“I don’t feel it’s a burden,” says Mac Lochlainn. “The way we look at it, whatever team is in front of us is the team we concentrate on, regardless of who they are. Whether it’s a bigger scalp or a lesser known team, it doesn’t matter.”
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