McGeeney lauds ‘special’ Doyle

KIERAN McGEENEY led a chorus of praise for John Doyle after the Kildare captain broke a number of the county’s records against Derry.

Doyle has now played more championship matches for Kildare than anyone else, scored in 50 straight games in the same competition and his 16th-minute free against Derry made him the first man to claim 100 points in the qualifiers.

“There are special players out there but my opinion is ‘can you play them anywhere’ and I think with Johnny you can,” said McGeeney.

“Very few corner-forwards can play corner-back or at midfield and he is one of them. It is taking a while for people to recognise it but if they all had the characteristics of Johnny no team would be hard to train.

“He works hard and he does everything he is asked and he doesn’t seem to have any ego. He is a pleasure to train.”

Doyle’s abilities were recognised with an All Star award last winter but he actually had one of his quieter games on Saturday, as is so often the case when landmarks are reached or surpassed.

A superb orchestrator as well as a finisher, he didn’t see as much of the ball at midfield but that was down in no small part to the fact that Derry were determined to keep him on a leash, whether by hook or by crook.

In a game full of jersey-pulling, niggles and more than a few bouts of handbags — most of it perpetrated by Derry, it must be said — Doyle continually found his personal space restricted.

McGeeney sought to counter that by bringing Rob Kelly back to the middle from his berth in the full-forward line and push Doyle further forward and the Armagh man clearly believes Doyle is not getting the protection he deserves.

“Johnny was coming in for a lot of attention for the third game on the trot. The linesman didn’t seem to see it the same way as we did. Rob is a bigger lad. He is more physical and more robust. We took a chance and, in fairness, he made a big difference.

“Derry have big men. When you walk across the pitch beside them, they are big men. They have Diver and Friel who are good, aggressive footballers. You don’t see them looking for handy frees. They go in hard. That suited Rob a wee bit more than Johnny.”