KILDARE are now the fourth-best team in the country, but you don’t have to take my word for it – all will be revealed this weekend.
Up to now, Meath could claim that title for themselves, having made two All-Ireland semi-finals in three years.
We are playing well enough to usurp them. I was surprised by the number of analysts and fellow supporters who did not think we had been impressive in the victory against Monaghan, due to our failure to convert so many frees and our high wides tally.
This, to me, was Kildare’s most impressive performance in Croke Park since the O’Dwyer era.
Those harping on about Kildare’s wides tally are missing a huge point. Kildare are absolutely devouring good teams in the hunt for possession.
We are dominating some of the better sides in the country to such an extent that we are running up big scores while also having the luxury of some inaccuracy.
What is frustrating about the lack of credit for the football that Kildare are producing is that our opponents only become bad teams after we have kicked them off the field.
Most pundits thought Derry would beat us before we went to Celtic Park – but after we had annihilated them, they were suddenly an awful side. It was a similar story in Casement Park.
By any reasonable assessment, Monaghan are a top eight side. They have proven it in championship throughout Seamus McEnaney’s reign, and proved it in the league this year.
We hear much about the six-day turnaround, and it surely was a factor in how easily Kildare won this game.
It is not the only factor, though. If Monaghan weren’t up for this game, how come they went 0-5 to 0-2 up? As in Belfast and as in Derry, Kildare’s work-rate and midfield dominance simply broke the opposition’s hearts, leaving our natural scoring forwards (take note Kevin McStay) to do their stuff.
Our midfield dominance is truly a sight to behold. Daryll Flynn trailed only James Kavanagh in the man-of-the-match stakes.
Dermot Earley may not have done anything spectacular, but he is at the heart of why Kildare win so many breaks. There is not a midfielder in the country better at slapping a high ball precisely to the chest of a team-mate, and Morgan O’Flaherty, Brian Flanagan and Ronan Sweeney profited time and again.
Kildare may have won by four points but the gulf was much bigger. We were nine up at one stage and that is a truer reflection of the match.
Psychology is a fascinating thing. A six-day turnaround is, according to many, impossible to negotiate – and yet Kildare will play their sixth game in six weeks this weekend with a spring in their steps.
Brian Dooher kicks an incredible long-range point in a big game and it is (rightly) still celebrated. James Kavanagh does the same and in some pundits’ eyes it is a sign of mental weakness, a Hail Mary ball.
McStay made some valid points on The Sunday Game but in decrying our lack of natural attackers he is guilty of lazy stereotyping.
John Doyle was on fire in Derry and Kavanagh was poor – on Saturday it was the other way around. Eamonn Callaghan has a proven track record of long-range scoring.
Alan Smith is an all-star nominee – and the two-footed Eoghan O’Flaherty is as natural as they come, as any of Carbury’s opponents this year will tell you.
In this county we are often accused of being too negative when things go wrong, and too excitable when things go right.
Lest we be accused of that, it should be pointed out that to bridge the gap to the top teams, there is still very much to do.
Kildare’s awful starts must be tackled. And yes, Kevin does have a point, sometimes we are guilty of poor shot selection. We will not beat a top side without scoring our frees. And some players are still guilty of poor distribution at times.
One would be worried that Meath’s excellent free-taker, Cian Ward, and eye for goals might undo us but there is so much to be impressed by with Kildare at the moment that I think it would take a storied Meath performance to beat us.
And in the event that we do win, let any pundit who thinks Meath are a bad side say so now.