Kildare won’t rest on laurels despite flawless record, says Niall Kelly

Kildare forward Niall Kelly believes new boss Cian O’Neill is right to be unhappy with his players despite their flawless record in the Allianz Football League. 

Kildare have won all four games in Division 3 this season and know a home win over Sligo on Sunday would leave them primed for an instant return to Division 2.

But O’Neill, who quit as Kerry trainer to take over his native county, slammed their most recent one-point win over Limerick as “not acceptable” and “not good enough”.

Sigerson Cup medallist Kelly agreed, and claimed an improvement in all areas is needed. “I don’t think anyone was under any illusions we didn’t perform to scratch the last day. Cian not being happy with our performance is justified. We felt each player didn’t step up to the mark and that has been the case in the first few rounds of the league.

“We’re hoping, as a team, we can take a step up and man up. Because while we’re top of the table now and we’re happy enough with that, going forward into the latter stages and the championship you need your performances to be improving.”

Kelly said it’s nice to be on a winning run after back-to-back relegations under former boss Jason Ryan. But he’s ambitious about returning to Division 2 and ultimately the top flight as soon as possible. He even gasped at the notion that Dublin are unbeatable in the Leinster championship.

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