Kildare 'excited' for semi-final after first ever win over Kerry at minor level
Kildare had their first ever win over Kerry at minor level over the weekend when the side’s met in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick
Kildare manager, Tommy Konstantin, was calm after the win over Kerry as he seemed throughout the clash but was certainly one very happy man having watched his side clock up Kildare’s first ever win over Kerry at minor level, that in itself a major feat.
Any day you can beat Kerry in an All-Ireland Series quarter-final is a great day for Kildare football and we are absolutely delighted with it.
The words of Kildare minor manager Tommy Konstantin who said he felt it was one of his side’s best performances of the season, something that really seem to please him, saying “we are really now excited for the challenge that lies ahead in a semi-final.”
There was no doubt that the three two-pointers that Kildare clocked up just before the half-time whistle, and all inside two minutes, were crucial to the win.
"Absolutely critical” said the manager, adding “there was a very, very strong wind out there, we walked the pitch before the game and you could see how strong the wind was and to go in at half-time leading by just four, before those scores came may not have been enough, but we needed that extra cushion and that was great.”
However, the manager said that they were very weary of the second half and we had to push out on Kerry because probably it was two-pointers that were their way back into the game at that stage.
Konstantin said that “conditions were very tough and I said to the boys there were two things that were going for us: our attacking play was good but I also felt our defence was excellent and we made it very hard for Kerry to get those scores in the second half; two points in the opening 15 minutes or so and while we were not getting our own scores, restricting them to just two points was crucial, we were solid, firm in the game and that gave us the extra belief as the second half went on.”
Looking back on the Leinster campaign Tommy said that “Leinster was an incredible tough province to come out with the likes of Louth and Meath and those wins built great confidence within the group, also, our focus over the last two weeks, and while we won Leinster we were a little bit disappointed at some of the performances and while we won the semi-final and final we felt there was a lot more in us and so the focus today wasn’t necessarily on the opposition, it was all about getting that big performance we knew was in us.”
Scoring four goals in any game is a great achievement so hitting four in an All-Ireland quarter-final was very special, it is all about being in the right place at the right time and as the manager said Callum Cowzer is especially delighted with himself saying he has had two touches in two games and has two goals to his name, but the young lads are all delighted, this is a real team effort and while the lads who got the goals were all great remember it is all about the lads out the field getting the vital turn-overs in the defence, the boys breaking off-the-shoulder, running hard and we showed very good composure when we got in for those chances.
Asked about the semi-final the manager said “it is all about preparation, all about resting the bodies, looking back on our own performance and seeing where we can improve, we’ll do that next week and then the following week we will look at Tyrone but really our focus has to be on ourselves and ensuring that we put in our best performance and we’ll see whatever happens after that.”