I have trust and belief in our players says Kildare manager ahead of league final

Kildare manager Brian Flanagan after the Allianz Football League Division 3 match between Kildare and Antrim at Cedral St. Conleth's Park, Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile

placeholder image — Kildare manager Brian Flanagan after the Allianz Football League Division 3 match between Kildare and Antrim at Cedral St. Conleth's Park, Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile

Kildare beat Antrim 1-26 to 1-15 to secure promotion from Division 3 and set up a league final clash with Offaly on Sunday, March 30 in Croke Park

It was certainly a different Brian Flanagan the press spoke to following Kildare's win over Antrim on Sunday, the Johnstownbridge man was a much relieved manager and, overall, very happy with his charges, despite trailing by five at half-time.

“I would have to say that half-time was a tough place to be, it wasn't part of the plan but there was a very, very strong wind, Antrim made good use of it in the first half and it was a time for calmness and composure and realise there was 35 minutes to play, there was going to be characters required, leadership required and in fairness it has been a tough week for players, management, losing is not the problem, losing is part of the process, especially in league football, everybody loses matches but I suppose it was the timing (losing) of them, back-to-back, certainly challenged us this week but I have massive belief in these players and I trusted they would come through it and believed they would step-up and I feel in the second half they were exceptional.”

Flanagan added he felt “we mixed our game up a little bit more in the second half and the bench had a massive impact, got great scores but you just couldn't rely on the wind, you have to use that to your advantage.”

The manager said he felt Kildare gave them some easy scores, breached the 'three-up' twice, which is not something we are accustomed to, adding “we spoke in a very calm, composed manner, didn't want to add pressure, I felt we could do it and thankfully we did.”

With ten points coming from the bench, the manager said that neither Darragh (Kirwan) or Ben (McCormack) have got any luck with injuries but hopefully they will get an extended run without injuries in the weeks and months ahead.

The manager said that Ben McCormack felt something at the back of his knee and we took him off, and will look at that during the week.

Looking forward to Saturday, a league final in Croke Park, and while promotion was the no. 1 aim “Saturday is massive, we will relish that challenge” added the manager.