KILDARE 1-15 MONAGHAN 1-11
IT was dreadful and then it was splendid.
During a dull first half Kildare couldn’t stop missing.
With ten minutes to go to the break something clicked and when they returned after the interval their shooting woes were forgotten amid a sea of superb scores.
As former coach and current Monaghan assistant, Paul Grimley, described it afterwards, for those 20 minutes after half-time when Kildare put the game to bed, they were ‘magical.’
“Kildare today were magical in the second half. The best performance that I seen them putting in this year was probably the second half up in Derry and certainly the second half again today. I complimented that. I know that performance is in them,” said Grimley who despite his current side’s week of woe, was beaming to see how his former charges have blossomed.
As the Kildare players passed him in the corridor behind the dressing rooms they returned his affections with hugs and handshakes.
“Alright kid,” Grimley said smiling, in his soft Northern brogue as Keith Cribbin bounced along to the players’ lounge.
It was his old sparring partner, Kieran McGeeney, that had most cause to smile but his face never gives much away. His team put to bed the notion that Paul Grimley was the brains behind Kildare’s championship revival in the last two seasons.
The game is, and always has been, decided by the players. On Saturday Kildare matched up to their third Ulster opponent of the Qualifiers and swatted them away because of their incredible workrate.
It was like John Doyle said afterwards: “If things aren’t going the way we want them we keep the shoulder to the wheel and keep working hard and eventually things open up and that’s what happened today.”
For Doyle it was a day of frustration. He couldn’t hit a barn door in the first half, missing frees and shots from play, but it didn’t drain his confidence nor the confidence of his teammates like it might have it in the past. Those who say Kildare rely on Doyle haven’t been watching them in the last three years. Kieran McGeeney has created an ethos that the team rely on everyone.
Daryll Flynn’s great form was of ’09 was often ignored while Dermot Earley continued his supernova ride across the championship skies but Flynn stepped up to the plate again on Saturday – his vital first half point kickstarted Kildare. It was a fine score from 40 metres, kicked off the outside of his right boot with such conviction that you knew it was over before it ever reached the target.
It surely sent a shot of adrenalin through Kildare for they finished the half with four straight points, including sensational scores from James Kavanagh and Eamonn Callaghan, and Callaghan surged through the Monaghan defence just before the break with a solo run as convincing as Flynn’s earlier point that ended with a free from in front of the posts.
It provided Doyle with his only point of the half, it gave Kildare the lead and if left Monaghan flatfooted. When they returned for the second half they didn’t no where to turn. Kildare swamped midfield and everywhere Monaghan looked they saw an overwhelming number of white jerseys.
At 0-6 to 0-5, the scoreline reflected how poor both attacks had been in the first half. In the next 18 minutes, Kildare added 1-7, evidence of how sharp they became in front of goal.
Kavanagh was the artist for most of that period, three tasty points including an exquisite free from the right while a sideline kick from the same side was only inches outside the target. In full flow, he has feet like Zinedine Zidane, and a shaven head to match.
But he would concede that it wasn’t just about him.
“It’s the lads working hard out the pitch it’s why I got the scores,” he said. Eamonn Callaghan was excellent around the middle again while the half-back line attacked every break with venom.
Alan Smith’s movement was key close to goal while Doyle’s off the ball running stretched the Monaghan defence.
Half-time sub Ronan Sweeney delivered the killer blow – and payback to keeper Padraig McBennett for his horrendous tackle in last year’s league encounter that went unpunished – when he palmed Kavanagh’s hand pass to the net. On the way out Sweeney gave it to McBennett verbally – both men knew this contest was over.
Not that the finale will have pleased the winning manager. His side kicked three wides down the home stretch and let Monaghan sneak a goal in the 66th minute that would have asked questions had it been scored ten minutes previous.
Those failings aren’t causing Kildare to fail and during McGeeney’s reign, the Lilies have never been beaten in the Qualifiers. It’s an impressive stat for a whole host of reasons but it has been achieved because McGeeney always demands more.
After last year’s quarter-final defeat to Tyrone he vowed that Kildare would have to do more this year last year’s effort wasn’t enough. With four wins under their belt, they arrive at the quarterfinals wondering if that more is going to be enough.