Bolton back with a bang for Kildare

Emmet Bolton raided forward to score 1-2 in Kildare's All-Ireland SFC third round qualifier win over provincial rivals Meath last night.

Just back from a hamstring injury, the talented defender rattled in a goal and a point in a devastating three-minute spell for the Lilywhites in the second half.

Once again, it was in the closing 35 minutes that the Lilywhites pulled away from their opponents - a trend that has continued through their wins this summer over Wicklow, Meath (twice) and Laois.

Speaking after their 2-11 to 0-14 victory in Navan, Bolton said: "We knew coming up here today that it would be a tough battle. Especially against Meath...you only pull away from them in the last 10 minutes as it showed.

"We started to implement our running game towards the last 10 or 15 minutes of the game. You have the likes of Eamonn (Callaghan) and James (Kavanagh) in there, who will run all day.

"At the end of it, all we've done is get ourselves into the next round of the qualifiers. We'll look forward to see who we get (tomorrow)."

Kildare await the losers of today's Ulster final. Assessing the pair, Bolton told RTÉ: "The two Ulster teams are fierce good. You've the total opposites there, you've Donegal who play a very defensive game.

"They will be very hard to break down, and you've Derry who play a running game. So whatever way it turns out, we're going to have to adjust our game for that."

The Eadestown clubman, who was nominated for an All-Star award last year, knows that Kildare cannot afford to rely solely on their second half improvements.

"We have to take positives (from playing well again in the second half). But as well, we need to work on our first half.

"We are creating chances in the first half but we're just not converting. We'll sit down, watch the DVD and work on it during the week."