Cribbin's supreme year on a personal level no consolation as he rues Kildare's championship exit

Paul Cribbin enjoyed arguably his best ever summer in a Kildare jersey this year but remains disappointed as the Lilywhites drifted out of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship at the quarter-final group stage. The Johnstownbridge man chipped in with 1-20 across the course of the championship, scoring some fabulous long range points and eventually plundering 1-5 in the Lilywhites’ defeat to Kerry on Saturday evening.

The former AFL player must be guaranteed an All-Star nomination following his string of eye-catching displays, but he chose to thank fans after the loss to Kerry rather than focus on any personal positives.

“I don’t think personal accolades mean a whole lot at this stage, it is all about the team,” Cribbin told KildareNow.

“It’s just a pity that we couldn’t give supporters that travelled down something more to cheer about. We did in the first half but not in the second half. I think all in all the supporters have been brilliant. I think through the qualifiers and especially in the Super 8’s the supporters have been brilliant, and there is still a great crowd of them down here today so it’s great to see and we’re very appreciative of that.”

The rangy half-forward rued the first half sending off of Neill Flynn at a stage when Kildare led by six points, which ultimately marked the start of an 18-point turnaround as the Kingdom overwhelmed their numerically disadvantaged visitors after the break.

“It was disappointing; the sending off really hurt us,” said Cribbin.

“We played very well in the first half, which has been a theme throughout a lot of our championship games this year where we’ve played well and just fell off towards the end. It’s a bit disappointing.

“It is a physical game and we don’t shy away from that at all, but I’m not sure today – and I’ll have to look at it back – and from talking to supporters, I don’t think there was a whole lot in it. Maybe Kerry made the most of it by going down, I’m not sure, but it is what it is.”