PREVIEW: Kildare ladies take on Dublin, again, in Leinster opener

It’s Championship season once again for the Kildare ladies and The Lilies are tackling Dublin up first, again. However, there is an extensive review that could be written of the goings on between these sides’ 2024 and 2025 Leinster Senior Championship meetings.

County Board disputes and replacements, a relegation final, and a change of management amongst other news.
Despite drama on and off the field, Pat Sullivan was given a Kildare ladies squad that would be competing in both Division 1 and the Senior Football Championship in 2025. They have already managed the former with great success too.

A disappointing opening game performance against Waterford, in a 1-13 to 2-7 loss, did little to convince anyone of their Division 1 credentials. Then new manager Pat Sullivan remained steadfast in his assertion that his team were targeting a block of three games to kick the league off, but with Dublin next on the calendar few fans were confident of points in matchday two.

The Kildare ladies, a week on from underwhelming, had commendations pouring in as they upset Dublin and beat the girls in blue for the first time in 20 years. A 1-8 to 0-8 win with an Alannah Prizeman goal the difference gave The Lilies and indeed their followers all the confidence needed to tackle Division 1.

Kildare stayed in Division 1 after solid performances alongside wins over Meath and Tyrone and we arrive at the point that we stand today with The Dubs on the horizon on Sunday, April 27 in Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

This is now week two of the Leinster Senior Football Championship with Dublin having already beaten Meath 2-10 to 1-6 over the weekend.

Kildare beat both of their Leinster opponents in the league and, while they won’t be getting too carried away about that fact, that is sure to instil confidence in a group still building at the top level.

One of the most impressive aspects of The Lilies this year has been their conditioning and defensive diligence, Pat Sullivan’s side reduced Dublin and Meath to just 0-8 and 1-5 respectively.

It would be redundant to insist on the maintenance of such a record, but it sure would help.

That defensive resilience is being facilitated from one to 15 with Kildare cutting a well-drilled outfit thus far. Pat Sullivan has this group in no doubt of what he wants and the main concern that has been shared by the manager in post-match evaluations has simply been handling errors and mistakes as opposed to process.

The familiar faces at the back to this point have been captain Laoise Lenehan and vice-captain Ruth Sargent, alongside Mia Doherty, Laura Dunlea, and Molly Aspell getting consistent starts too. Emma Wheeler also appears to have nailed down a spot at corner-back in the last couple of weeks and those names would constitute my predicted back six as The Lilies look to put a lid on Dublin.

Going Forward
In big games like this, Róisín Byrne is saddled with responsibility all of her own making with years of elite performance under her belt. The Sash star had been registering at a reduced rate in the league until she walked onto the new Cedral St Conleth’s Park and decided to dazzle everyone for the ladies’ first outing. Byrne hit a hattrick in Kildare’s crucial relegation deciding game and helped send Tyrone back to Division 2.

Byrne missed Kildare’s last Leinster Championship clash with Dublin through injury and was visibly emotional pre-match to not take to the field. The Sarsfields forward is a fierce competitor and will be chomping at the bit this time around.

The Kildare defence gets credit as a unit while attackers can more often than not stand alone in their receipt of praise. If one player was to get that from Kildare's showings to this point, it would be Neasa Dooley.

The Athy forward is not long away from departing for Australia and, ever since that became part of her plans, so did dragging Kildare as far up as she could before heading down under. Dooley’s scoring and ability from range is of course what grabs the headlines, but her ability to carry the ball up the field with pace against a team like Dublin could be crucial if The Lilies are on the backfoot.

Naas forward Alannah Prizeman is unlikely to begin this game based on recent starting XV’s, but, given her exemplary goal-scoring output, her impact off the bench could prove crucial in a tight Championship tie.
Dublin

The Dubs finished fourth in Division 1 and of course made the perfect start to their Leinster title bid with a win over Meath. They, in no uncertain terms, handed Kildare two Championship hammerings last year and will be unfazed by their record in 2025.

Looking back through the Dublin catalogue of performances thus far, a clear pattern emerges and it is one of goals, usually two. The 2023 All-Ireland Senior Champions raised two green flags in all bar a couple of their seven league games and only drew a blank against Kildare.

While Pat Sullivan certainly won’t be planning for that change, for the sake of speculation here let’s say that it might as the old enemy ramp things up for the summer. Kildare are going to have to match Dublin at the top end of the field and, despite Alannah Prizeman’s consistent grabbing of a goal and Byrne’s glut against Tyrone, The Lilies have not been quite as consistent in terms of scoring as Dublin under or over the posts (11-68 vs 10-58 in Division 1 games).

The scoring is not worlds apart and The Lilies have proven stingy when facing their Leinster counterparts. Kildare have a chance, and will be giving themselves one based on what they have been able to achieve to this point. First game of the

Leinster Championship against Dublin, the same as one year ago and a perfect measure sticking as to how far they have come in that time.

The Kildare Ladies face Dublin in Cedral St Conleth’s Park this Sunday, April 27.

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