Return to form pleases Naas captain Doyle

After their five year unbeaten run in the Joe Mallon Motors Kildare Senior Football Championship was ended by Sarsfields in the final round of group games, it was back to business as usual for Naas as they beat Clane by 1-22 to 0-13 in last weekend’s quarter-final.

Ultra experienced defender Eoin Doyle said that was much closer to the level expected by Naas themselves.

“Definitely happier with that performance and result than the last day,” said the Naas captain.

“The question marks were there because our performance was very poor last day out, a lot of that was down to how Sarsfields played and how they performed and we didn’t match it on the day. You get what you deserve, and that was exactly what we deserved. We came out against Clane and just wanted to play the way we know we can play. For large parts of it we did but there’s a lot of room for improvement as well.” 

There were no major team meetings in the aftermath of that loss to Sarsfields, Doyle said the group just knuckled down to work on the training pitch and came out with a much better display against Clane.

“It was very simple, Sarsfields were better than us on the day, they outperformed us on the day and we didn’t do the things that we know we are able to do. As a result, we were beaten and there are no excuses in this game. It was just about getting back to hard work, and working during the game as well. Clane are a very tricky team with a lot of young talent going forward. Happy with the result, happy with the performance but all it gets us is another day out, nothing more than that.” 

After the scored just 1-7 against Sarsfields, the county trio of Alex Beirne, Darragh Kirwan and Ryan Sinkey returned to form in the Naas full forward line and scored 16 points of their 1-22 tally against Clane but Doyle said the scores are never about any group of individuals, it’s a team game and what happens all over the field reflects what is put on the scoreboard.

“You can’t lay the 1-7 the last day just on the forwards…how much did we concede? how much breaking ball did we lose? How many kick outs? It’s a team game, it’s not about the three lads there, it’s about the 15, and even the 30, that we have. It always has been, and always will be,” he said.

Speaking before Celbridge confirmed their place as Naas’ semi-final opponents, Doyle said he would expect nothing less than a hugely tough encounter in any semi-final.

“Of course, tell me one semi-final in any sport or any competition that is easy down through the years. That’s the way it always is, that’s why we play the game and we’ll have to prepare well for that,” he said.