Kildare manager on fitness, fixtures, and Daniel Flynn

Speaking after his sides 3-19 to 1-11 win over Tipperary in the Tailteann Cup, Brian Flanagan spoke to the media after a final score-line that slightly flattered his Lilywhites as they made it two wins from two in Group 1.

He explained, “It was a tough game to be perfectly honest and the score-line probably doesn’t reflect how competitive Tipp were at times. We didn’t help ourselves. I thought we started well with two attacks, two shots, two scores, and got a little bit lethargic then for the next 15-20 minutes.

“Tipp are big men, they are very physical in how they play the game and they are a threat off two-pointers, and we knew that. For 45 minutes that was a proper competitive game. In fairness to our lads, I have to give them a lot of credit, they stuck to it and we had a big impact off the bench coming in.”

Unsurprisingly one name that was put to the Kildare manager straight away was Daniel Flynn. His fellow Johnstownbridge club- man hit 2-4 in a lively display in Clonmel where he showed all that he has to offer any Kildare front-line.

“He has had a rough couple of months with injuries, but he’s back now. He has had a couple of weeks of consistent training so that has helped him a lot. He got his opportunity today and did very well. He is a great outlet and the ball sticks with him. He did very well, like a lot of other lads,” Flanagan said.

One element of Kildare's Tailteann Cup campaign that has been noted with interest has been members of the Kildare panel popping up for their clubs in recent weeks.

Flanagan explained, “We set ourselves the goal of getting as much game time into as many different lads as we could. That means this team, Kildare, but also in club games and in the last two weeks we have freed up a lot of fellas to play a half with their club or a full game with their club. That has set us up to really go at it and have savage internal competition for places.”
Kildare have a week break before facing Sligo on Saturday, May 31 in their final Tailteann Cup group game.

READ NEXT: People are starting to take notice says Kildare boss after huge win