Kildare breathe easy before the climb gets steep
A glance at the use of substitutes by the respective management teams amounts to a neat summary of how this game panned out; Fermanagh introducing theirs early as they chased a lost cause, Kildare taking off key players early with the result secured.
Kildare’s fourth consecutive win in the qualifiers — who expected to read that sentence a few weeks ago? — was virtually certain by half-time when they led by 11 points.
It presented their first opportunity to exhale since being dumped out of the Leinster championship by Carlow six weeks earlier.
Even beating Mayo after the “Newbridge or nowhere” saga came with a concerning footnote; what if we don’t finish the job and beat Fermanagh?
That thought clearly energised the Kildare players as they dominated this game from the off and drew appreciative gestures from their vocal support all evening.
It was, as manager Cian O’Neill observed, their best performance of the year which was significant given how they’d been smothered by Carlow’s blanket defence yet easily shrugged off Fermanagh’s similar challenge to secure a Super 8s place.
“We didn’t over-analyse what Fermanagh do, that might have been something we did against Carlow, we might have over-analysed Carlow’s defensive system even though we’d met it in Division 1 countless times,” admitted O’Neill.
That period in late May was a difficult one for O’Neill, the ex-Kerry coach, who had all and sundry questioning his ability to lead Kildare after 12 defeats in a row in all competitions.
Even up until their win over Mayo, Tomas Ó Se admitted his impression of O’Neill, based on his time in Killarney, was that the university expert er was ‘a good man to talk the talk’ but not necessarily to walk the walk.
“The biggest critic I have is the inner critic inside me,” O’Neill said as he and Kildare gloried in the restorative effect of the qualifiers on Saturday evening. “The second group of critics I worry about are the backroom and players. What happens around that is just noise because I know last year when things were going well, everything was great.
“This year, when things were going poorly, even though they weren’t as bad as the league table presented, but seven losses is seven losses, it wasn’t rock bottom either. We knew we weren’t that far off it.
“Listen, it’s not nice, don’t get me wrong. When it steps from professional to personal criticism, it’s definitely not nice. But as I always say to the guys, whatever happens inside the four walls of the dressing room, that’s sacred to us and that’s what keeps us going.”
It’s tempting to suggest Kildare are in bonus territory now, given that their season appeared in tatters six weeks ago.
Yet O’Neill rejected that notion which does a vast disservice to the quality of their players and the ability of their team.
The Flynns, Daniel and Neil, were terrific in attack and contributed 2-8 between them as they cut Fermanagh’s defence asunder virtually at will.
They mixed it up, going direct for Daniel Flynn’s 7th-minute goal when Fergal Conway caught a kick-out and picked out the full-forward with a long kick.
At other times, they worked the ball superbly through the lines with clever passing, like Kevin Feely’s long, diagonal hand pass to Daniel Flynn for the last point of the first half.
GOAL Kildare! Great take and finish by Daniel Flynn! pic.twitter.com/PpJU7t4d0j
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 7, 2018
Or the clever threaded pass that David Slattery played to Chris Healy, another sub, who then lobbed the ‘keeper for Kildare’s third goal right at the death.
Virtually from start to finish, this was a performance full of quality that indicated Kildare can have a big say in their Super 8s group.
“I could see it (coming), for sure, the management could see it, the players could see it, this wasn’t luck,” insisted O’Neill of their qualifier run. “This wasn’t a fluke. You don’t go to Owenbeg, to Pearse Park, then play the second seeded team in the country, then do what we did against Fermanagh and call it luck. This was burning inside, the performance for the first three quarters. We just weren’t able to bring it out, to express ourselves against Carlow. Credit to Carlow, they did a fantastic job that day in shutting us down too. There is always that other side of it. But no, we did believe, that’s part of the reason we’re here.”
A year ago yesterday, Rory Gallagher managed Donegal to a qualifier win over Meath in Navan but experienced contrasting emotions as Fermanagh boss.
“We found out there’s a big gap in everything we’re doing between ourselves and Donegal, and ourselves and Kildare,” said Gallagher, whose Fermanagh were well beaten in the Ulster final. “There’s a huge amount to do.
“That Kildare team is moulded for a number of years. Physically, they’re very well developed. Skill-wise they’re very, very good and I think tactically they’re strong as well. Likewise with Donegal. Both days we struggled on the opposition kick-out. We’ve just got to improve in those areas.”
Check out the full-time highlights here between Fermanagh and Kildare! pic.twitter.com/beznAsCmFu
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 7, 2018
Kildare scorers:
N. Flynn (1-5, 0-3 frees); D. Flynn (1-3); C. Healy (1-2); K. Flynn and P. Brophy (0-2 each); K. Cribbin, P. Cribbin, T. Moolick, K. Feely, P. Kelly and F. Conway (0-1 each).
Fermanagh scorers:
Seamus Quigley (0-7, six frees); Sean Quigley (0-3); T. Corrigan and R. Jones (0-2 each); R. Corrigan, D. McCusker, B. Mulrone and J. McMahon (0-1 each).
KILDARE:
M. Donnellan; P. Kelly, M. O’Grady, D. Hyland; J. Byrne, E. Doyle (c), K. Flynn; K. Cribbin, T. Moolick; F. Conway, P. Cribbin, P. Brophy; N. Flynn, K. Feely, D. Flynn.
Subs:
F. Dowling for Moolick (44), C. Healy for Feely (46), N. Kelly for P. Cribbin (49), D. Slattery for K. Cribbin (52), E. Callaghan for D. Flynn (55), M. Hyland for N. Flynn (63).
FERMANAGH:
P. Cadden; C. Cullen, L. Cullen, M. Jones; B. Mulrone, D. McCusker, A. Breen; E. Donnelly (c), T. Clarke; D. Teague, R. Jones, J. McMahon; R. Corrigan, Seamus Quigley, C. Jones.
Subs:
K. Connor for Teague (24), T. Corrigan for Breen (32), R. Lyons for C. Jones (36), P. McCusker for Clarke (43), Sean Quigley for R. Corrigan (46), C. Magee for Mulrone (59).
Referee:
C. Lane (Cork).
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