Lilies were shaken, not scarred, says Cian O’Neill

Kildare boss Cian O’Neill insists his squad has not been scarred by a league campaign that delivered little aside from seven straight losses and a return ticket to a second tier they had only left last year.

The Lilywhites have been the archetypal yo-yo side in recent times, traipsing up and down the league ladder, from Division One to Three, since 2014 when they last spent a second consecutive spring in the same bracket.

“I can honestly say no,” said the former Kerry trainer. “There was a part of the league where, definitely, we were a little bit shook. That was after the Mayo match. We were very competitive and confident in the first four matches and we were close.