Diane O'Hora reacts to Kildare ladies winning promotion to Division 1

Speaking after her Kildare side secured promotion to Division 1 with a win over Laois, Diane O'Hora said, “After the fifth game to get promoted, it is just absolutely insane. I would never have dreamt of it.

“These players are just at a different level in terms of how they think about the game. They put more pressure on themselves than anyone else. They push each other really hard in training and it is a really great trajectory they’re on. This is huge for Kildare, to go from Division 3 and now to Division 1 is unbelievable.”

The Mayo legend was visibly thrilled with the news of Division 1 football for 2025 and it was hard not to be infected by the delight as Kildare secured back-to-back promotions.

Despite the celebration and joy that surrounded the result, the opening exchanges of this game still had to be unpicked as Kildare plodded their way through the first half. The game sat at 0-4 to 0-1 after 30 minutes before The Lillies kicked into gear to hit 1-2 in additional time.

“It was good for us that they frustrated us, because we had to remember what we do,” O’Hora said. “Remember how we transition the ball, how we move it. There are areas for us to improve, some of our decision making wasn’t great. We need to be more evasive and when it is busy in the centre we need to use the sides. Plenty to learn.”

The idea of width has been to the forefront of the Kildare attacking plan this year, and has worked to great effect when deployed to the fullest extent.

Kildare cut deep-lying Cavan to ribbons as they hugged the touchlines to generate space centrally for those elite scoring forwards. The leading example of that touchline hugging against Laois was Trina Duggan, who has slotted back in superbly following her return from injury.

O'Hora concluded, “Regardless of the outcome of where we are, we still want to go out and win that game in two weeks. The same with Westmeath in our last game.”