Jason Ryan refuses to blame fatigue for Kildare’s defeat

A dejected Jason Ryan conceded yesterday’s defeat to Kerry was a more chastening one than the loss to Dublin.

That may sound understandable given this embarrassment came by way of 27 points compared to the 19-point drubbing they suffered at the hands of Dublin back in June’s Leinster final.

But Ryan, who refused to be drawn on his future as Kildare manager, said it was a worse occasion bearing in mind how good they were against Cork last Saturday week.

“After last week, the level of euphoria and joy and whatever that went into it (was huge). We’d been waiting a while to get that win against a Division 1 team and then we’d been waiting a number of years to get back into an All-Ireland quarter-final.

“It’s a live TV game, there’s a lot of Kildare supporters coming to the game, guys are getting clapped on the back and then all of a sudden from being up there you’re back down.

“That’s going to be hard, it’s hard for the supporters and it’s very difficult for the players. I’m lucky to have a management team that has worked tremendously hard but this is tough for these guys to deal with it as well.”

Ryan was at a loss to explain the lack of consistency in his team’s performances this season.

“We’re not as poor as the performance today or the one against Dublin. It’s about consistency and understanding what’s required to be very, very competitive.

“There’s ability in this group, it’s about working hard these days when the going is tough.”

Eamonn Fitzmaurice suggested Kildare may have fatigued after beating Cork but Ryan dismissed that theory.

“It’s not a game I’ll be looking forward to watching back. I would say there is no one reason (for the manner of the defeat), fatigue would be an easy excuse for us. We were not as competitive as we needed to be. For us to have a chance of winning games, especially against Division 1 teams or All-Ireland champions, we have got to be competitive. And we weren’t.

“In the first half we probably had enough possession to be closer to Kerry but we didn’t win enough ball from kick-outs, or gave away too much easy ball and lost it in contact.”