Kildare have players suited to Croker, but they haven't delivered

Kildare's Daniel Flynn. ©INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan

After losing at home to Clare in last year's National League, and beating Cork and Laois away, then Kildare manager Jack O'Connor spoke of his team's love of wide open spaces and big pitches.

"That's the problem with Newbridge, it's very tight," said Lilywhites boss O'Connor of Kildare's home ground. "I felt, particularly with the way Clare set up, that the pitch didn't suit us but sure we can't make it any bigger. Look, it's no coincidence we played well in here (Portlaoise v Laois) and we played well in Thurles (against Cork). We want to kick the ball and if you can't kick it in these wide open spaces, you won't kick it anywhere."

Croke Park then should suit Kildare perfectly, a giant canvas upon which to showcase the artistry of some of the best forwards in the country - Daniel Flynn, Jimmy Hyland, Ben McCormack and Darragh Kirwan - their talented midfield led by Kevin Feely and marauding defenders like Kevin Flynn.

It's been anything but a field of dreams for Kildare, however, and they'll return this evening to face Mayo saddled with baggage. The last time Kildare won two consecutive Championship games at Croke Park was in 2010. Since then, they've played there 24 times in the Championship and lost 17. They've only won two of their last 10 games at GAA headquarters, both against Westmeath.

Truth be told, they were hanging on against Westmeath last month and were mightily relieved to hear the final whistle. Then came the five-goal Leinster final mauling by Dublin.

"Kildare need to get over this thing of Croke Park being some sort of issue, they need to just get up there and embrace the place and put it to bed because ultimately it's where you're going to face the best teams," said Davy Burke, manager of Kildare when they won the 2018 All-Ireland U-20 final at Croke Park.

"There's no getting away from those stats, seven wins in 24 isn't good when you lay it out like that. But the other side of it is how many of those games were against a brilliant Dublin team? There was an All-Ireland quarter-final against a strong Kerry team. So the stats don't tell the whole story but, look, it's definitely time for Kildare to move on and start putting the wins together up there."

Former Wicklow manager Burke, back in charge of Sarsfields whom he led to the 2019 Kildare SFC title, believes that Croke Park could yet be a field of dreams for the current team - with some tactical tweaking. Between their two Championship games there this season, they've conceded 7-32. He believes an increased emphasis on defence is a must.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we have a better set of forwards than Mayo. If you're comparing a fully fit Kirwan, Hyland and Flynn to what Mayo have then I think you'd have to say they're a bit lighter than us. From 1-12 is where Mayo are so strong. The thing I'd really fear is our three lads kicking 1-17 or, say, 2-12 between them but Kildare conceding 4-16 overall. I'd much prefer us to come out of this game kicking 2-10 and conceding 1-10. We really need to complement those forwards a bit better defensively because what we're doing is we're letting the forwards do their thing and we're being exposed at the far end."

Burke's fear is that if Kildare set up in the same way that they did against Westmeath and Dublin, they'll concede a big score.

"I expect to see tweaks to the plan. Do they die on their sword and say, 'This is how we play and Mayo aren't as good as Dublin, we'll just go for it?'. I think they'd be foolish to do that. If they do, Mayo's running will cause them big problems. Look at the Monaghan (v Mayo) game, Darren Hughes played as a plus one for Monaghan, they used Ryan McAnespie to tag Eoghan McLaughlin - and McLaughlin was still very influential. If you put an out and out forward on McLaughlin then, yeah, we might get a point or two from the forward but we'll pay on the other side of it."

Burke accepts that ripping up the script at this stage could equally sew doubt in the Kildare players' minds.

"That's where you have to be so careful. It can't be wholesale changes. For me, the best thing to do is a couple of key personnel changes. Use smarter footballers in certain positions, rather than all out attackers. Use fellas who control, manage and shut down spaces. It's a balance issue Kildare have. If they get it right, they can be a serious threat to Mayo."

And Croke Park might finally be a happy hunting ground.