Colbert is a chip off the old block

The 1992 Leinster U21 Football winning team produced some of Kildare’s greatest ever footballers.

Glenn Ryan, Anthony Rainbow, Niall Buckley and Ronan Quinn all went on to enjoy provincial success at senior level during the greatest period in the modern era for Kildare GAA.

Ryan’s son Ben is the inspirational joint captain of the current Under 20 squad who defeated Louth to lift the Leinster title at Parnell Park on Wednesday evening but there’s another link back to that 1992 team.

Maurice Colbert was Buckley’s midfield partner on that Kildare side that defeated a Dublin team containing Dessie Farrell in Tullamore that afternoon. He may very well have gone on to scale the heights that some of his team-mates did but a serious eye injury while playing a Championship game for Two Mile House prematurely ended his career and prevented him from fulfilling his potential.

His son Daniel proved once again on Wednesday evening that he is a player with every ounce of quality that his father possessed once upon a time.

Colbert, who starred for the Clane hurlers on their way to a Leinster junior hurling final last year, has fielded plenty of ball for this Kildare team on their way to winning a Leinster final this year. That’s all well and good but the great players field the ball when their team needs it the most.

In the dying stages of the game, Colbert produced one moment of aerial magic. A minute later on the opposite side of the field his midfield partner Evan Boyle did the same. They were small moments that broke the spirit of Louth as they were chasing the game.

“It's something that we work on a lot, and I think Evan is brilliant in the air. I think a big thing for us is that we try to back ourselves around the middle. Obviously, it doesn't work every time, but look, it's something that we work on, and it's great that it worked today,” said Colbert.

That ball winning ability around the middle helped keep a steady flow of ball going inside to the lethal Kildare forward line.

“I think once you can get the ball in, then you know they'll do the work inside, so it does take a bit of work off of our shoulders out the field once we get it in, but look, it's a brilliant team and it's a great occasion. It's just brilliant to get over the line,” said Colbert.

It was a frantic second half with the lead changing hands on numerous occasions and Colbert felt it was Kildare’s mental toughness that proved the difference.

“I think coming down the last ten minutes, it could have gone either way. Louth went ahead at a certain stage with about ten minutes to go, and I think the team showed real character to claw it back. I think this team, we've been working really hard for five months now, and I think it's great that a bit of our hard work has come to fruition now,” said Colbert, who is now looking forward to a crack at Tyrone in an All-Ireland semi-final.

“Tyrone have won two All-Irelands in a row and three Ulsters so we know the challenge that we're going to face. It'll be a big task ahead but I think we'll enjoy it tonight and then set our sights on next week,” said Colbert.