Dave Lambert and Confey's journey to Leinster Championship glory in 2006

Similar to how the club itself grew, Dave Lambert worked his way through the Confey ranks to the first team management position for their now historic 2006 season.

The club was just 17 years old then and despite Junior ‘A’ and league successes, few expected the breakaway club north of Leixlip to go so far that year.

Previous manager Stephen Kinneavy had brought Cofney to an Intermediate final in 2004, but after a lacklustre '05 campaign, Dave made the step-up from his role with the second team to take the mantle.

It could have all been so different on multiple occasions for this Confey side, and following a timid effort against Eadestown that his side got out of unscathed, the new boss let his players know where the standards were at.

“I can’t remember the specifics of it, but I was really disappointed with the lads. We won by four points and I kept them out on the pitch and gave them a bit of a bollocking. We were a much better team than Eadestown at that time and we were kinda dragged down. I said 'lads we are not winning anything like that'; it was the kick up the a** we needed. They knuckled down, intensity in training went up, and we had 35 lads out every night” Dave said.

Confey seconds would win their respective Championship in the meantime too and Dave added seven players to his squad and four to the starting lineup.

“We played Johnstownbridge in the quarter-finals. I was missing my first choice midfielders, Hughie Lynch and Collie Quinn, and Johnstownbridge came flying out fo the traps,” Dave explained.

“How I discovered I had a decent squad was when I emptied the bench, and it was the bench that won it. Without panicking, we just stuck to our game plan and to how I had set them up, which was fairly attacking. We got the points we needed and they had a miss near the end for an equaliser. They were devastated, but I was thinking that we’ll have our two midfielders back for the semi-final, and we are going to be stronger again. It was a good hurdle to get over.”

Confey would kick on to reach a second county final in three years, but it looked to be heading much the way of the first in the opening minutes. Confey trailed St Kevin’s by 1-4 to no score after a disastrous start to the Intermediate county final.

“We were slow out of the traps and Kevin's came out flying in fairness to them. Whether it was nerves or the occasion I'm not sure. We then rattled off seven points in a row and it was a draw at half-time, 1-4 to 0-7. The momentum was with us after that and we kicked on. We were able to hold them off late on and we came out the right end of it,” Dave recalled.

Confey would win 0-14 to 1-9 to claim the young club’s first ever Kildare Intermediate Championship title, and did so with a club man at the helm.

“When we won Intermediate it was brilliant for me, it brought us all together, and everyone was of course delighted. It was a great time,” Dave said.

“There were people who were against it (my appointment) because we’d had high profile managers before that, I was one of the first people from the club to get the first team job. We celebrated like every club does for a couple of days, but we were fortunate that we had a Kilkenny team in the first round of Leinster. I played an entire second 15 bar one player.”

The journey through the provinces was next and the Kildare champions coasted past their Kilkenny counterparts before battling through Ardee St Mary’s in less than ideal conditions.

Two Darragh Nolan goals would see Confey produce a comeback to get past Mountmellick and into a Leinster final as the Laois men lost their way. Dave still calls that Leinster semi-final and subsequent comeback one of the hardest games he has ever been involved in.

Confey would create the inverse of their county final start when they took on Tubber in the Leinster final, with the Kildare men firing themselves into 1-3 to 0-1 lead on home soil.

“We got off to a great start and we were always in the lead in the match. I wouldn’t say ever comfortable, but Ciaran McManus got the ball in midfield, used his strength to get through the middle, and scored a goal from about 20 yards out. One of the best goals I have ever seen, which dragged them back into it. It was such a nervous ending, but we had enough to hold them off in the end,” Dave explained.

“It was just an incredible day, a massive crowd, very emotional. I had added people from the club into the management team through Leinster to give them a taste of being a part of this journey and seeing how far we could go. An amazing occasion and celebrations with the team and all the members of the club.”

The Christmas break, partnered with the loss of numerous key players, meant that the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final following Leinster success would be the last step on Confey's incredible journey.

The Kildare side came up short against high-flying Kerry side Ardfert, who would go on to win the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship, having won the All-Ireland Junior the year prior.

“It was a great season, and everyone was wrecked by the end of it,” Dave said.

“It was historic for us in Confey. Then in year two it was about survival, but we stayed Senior and did enough to keep our head above water. We were still recovering from the previous year to be honest.”

Dave would step away from first team duty due to family obligations after the conclusion of the 2007 season. A season dedicated entirely to survival following the physical and emotional toll of the prior year, and the step up in quality.
Years later, after a successful stint with Blackhall Gaels teams, the Leinster Championship winning manager is now back in Confey with the Senior Ladies for a second year.

The Leinster Leader will be doing a feature article from every club in Kildare over the coming weeks and months as part of the Love of the Game series.

If you have a suggestion for an article on someone from your club, a legendary player, selfless volunteer or an idea of your own, send them to daragh.nolan@leinsterleader.ie