Watson confident Kildare can capture Kennedy Cup

The best U14 players from right across the Kildare and District Underage League (KDUL) are in the midst of their 2026 SFAI Umbro Kennedy Cup campaign under the leadership of manager Mal Watson.

The Kildare team will get Group 3 underway on Monday, June 8th, against Lisburn Castlereagh and complete the round robin stage on Tuesday, June 2nd, with games against Sligo/Leitrim and then Wexford.

Wednesday will see Kildare move on to the knockout stages. Where they finish in Group 3 will determine if Mal Watson's team will play in the Cup, Bowl, Shield or Trophy.

All quarter-finals will be played on Wednesday, with Thursday reserved for all semi-finals and place matches between the losing quarter-finalists. The 2026 Kennedy Cup will conclude on Friday, with all four third-place playoffs and all four finals set to be decided.

Kildare's 20-player squad features representatives from as many as 12 different clubs. Kill Celtic and Kilcock Celtic lead the way with four players each; Clane United and Naas each have two in the squad, while there is one each from Kildare Town, Athy Town, Allenwood Celtic Prosperous United, Monasterevin, Rathangan, Castle Villa and Derry Rovers.

The vast diversity in the squad demonstrates the quality of players up and down the KDUL and is a testament to the inexhaustible scouting work done by the coaches.

Watson coaches at Cherry Orchard in Dublin and is taking charge of the Kildare Kennedy Cup team for the very first time. He spoke to The Kildare Nationalist last week to explain the process involved in assembling his squad.

“I have coaches that attend games, including myself. We've held trials over a number of weeks and then we invite players in over a period of time as well – players that may have been away or injured and to give everyone an equal opportunity to play.

"I've coached lads in Dublin from Major 4 and 5 level onto professional football. And I've seen it over the years - some players are happy just playing with their friends even though they might be well capable of playing at much higher levels. So I didn't want to miss anyone.

But the manager insists the variety of clubs in his squad is purely coincidental and that he and his coaches selected their squad solely based on merit. 

“I've coached lads in Dublin from Major 4 and 5 level on to professional football. And I've seen it over the years - some players are happy just playing with their friends even though they might be well capable of playing at much higher levels.

“I didn't want to miss anyone. So, I was networking with coaches and asking around people involved in the county in different clubs, because I like to get everyone's opinion throughout the county and even people who might not necessarily be from the county. I put out word everywhere as much as I could."

Kildare have a tough group to try and navigate, but Watson is confident of his side's abilities.

“We have a really strong squad. We played Shamrock Rovers, a similar age group, three weeks ago and we had a very good result - we beat them 2-1 and we could have scored a lot more goals," he said.

“We played Rovers U17 girls then last Sunday. They're tactically very, very good. But we won 6-0.

“We're not going in with cocky, don't get me wrong. We're very grounded - and I keep them grounded. We had a player in from League of Ireland last Thursday night as well, just to talk to them about the ups and downs - the reality of football and what it takes.

“We're all dependent on each other, really, so, we have a team motto called ‘Rise as One.’

“I think we have a very good chance of going forward and qualifying out of that group, I really do. And that’s with all due respect to the other players and teams in our group, but definitely we have a very, very strong chance.

“I mean we have a very, very good team. An adaptable team that work very hard. They’re very vocal now. They weren't at the start, but they're very vocal. Tactically they're sound. We've worked on a lot of team intentions - they know the plan, they know the game plan going in there. They know how we move, when to move, when to press, when to stop, and how to move together as a unit.

“We have a lot of pace up front. We have great organisation at the back. And we have phenomenal midfielders.”

Watson name-checked Ryan Keaveney (Athy), Alex White (Naas), Kayden Maloney (Derry Rovers) and Jamie Piggott (Kilcock Celtic) as players to watch out for as well as highlighting the efforts of his coaches John Quinn and Chris Thiemann, a German coach who has previously worked in the Bundesliga. The Kildare manager also thanked his team's two local sponsors, Poppy May's Café and Swag.eu. 

KILDARE: Paul Colbert (Clane United) Rían Fay (Kill Celtic) Finn Hickey (Kill Celtic) Ewan Calderwood (Kilcock Celtic) Evan Morley (Kildare Town) Ryan Keavney (Athy Town) Alex White (Naas AFC) Jamie Piggott (Kilcock Celtic) Dexter Powell (Prosperous United AFC) Bobby Quinr (Kilcock Celtic) Hugh O'Loughlin (Monasterevin AFC) Tadgh McCormack (Allenwood Celtic) Arron O'Kelly (Kill Celtic) Zach McIlroy (Clane United) Ciaran Maher (Rathangan AFC) Ben McCormack (Naas AFC) Ryan Poole (Castle Villa AFC) Kayden Maloney (Derry Rovers) Ollie Broderick (Kill Celtic) Evan Carroll (Kilcock Celtic)