Match-winner Cribbin praises impact of manager O’Neill after steering Kildare back to the top
Kildare star Paul Cribbin admitted that he was anxious once Clare began to get a run on his team during the second half, but he acknowledged that it was another step on the team’s learning curve as they weathered the Banner storm and sealed their return to Division 1 of the National League.
The beginning of the second half had all the hallmarks of last April’s Division 3 league final against the same opposition when Kildare let a lead slip as Clare attacked in numbers in a manner which the Lilywhites were unable to handle.
There were plenty of moments in the third quarter of Sunday’s game when Colm Collins’ side broke through on goal, with Shane Brennan proving to be particularly prominent, and Cribbin admitted that he was slightly worried when the Clare midfielder found the net in the 41st minute.
“I won’t lie, I was, yeah,” said Cribbin when asked if he was worried at that stage.
“As I said, if that game was last year I don’t know if we would have seen it out, but you still have that slight bit of confidence within the team because we’ve come back in games already in the league, so we know we have that in our locker this year.”
It’s a remarkable achievement for a team to jump two divisions in as many years, and the Johnstownbridge player says that promotion was not something that was openly discussed during their league campaign. The mantra was ‘one game at a time’, something manager Cian O’Neill has consistently preached, and Cribbin reflected that sentiment.
“We’ve such a young team, but lads are just willing to learn and there’s great spirit within the team. We have a policy of one game at a time, and that’s all we’re taking it as,” he said.
“I won’t lie, I was, yeah. As I said, if that game was last year I don’t know if we would have seen it out, but you still have that slight bit of confidence within the team because we’ve come back in games already in the league, so we know we have that in our locker this year.”
“We didn’t look at[promotion] that at the start of the game, it was drilled into us to focus on getting the next two points. We had two league games left and we were going for four points; promotion is brilliant with one game left, but we’ll still be going out as hard as we can next week.”
“Its testament probably to the work that Cian and his selectors are doing because there’s big changes this year from all sides, in the panel and in the management. I think we’ve grown together as a team and we’re reaping the benefits so far I suppose.”
Cribbin was one of the stars of the show in the final 10 minutes, scoring three of Kildare’s last five points as he led the scoring charge for the home side, though he said that period was a bit of a blur.
Ben McCormack kicked a point for Kildare after coming off the bench.
Another player who made an impact in the closing stages was Ben McCormack, as the Sarsfields youngster came off the bench to kick a vital point for Kildare. The U21 county player was not expected to feature after suffering a hamstring tear less than four weeks ago, and Cian O’Neill had almost resigned himself to not having the Kildare Senior Club Footballer of the year back in action until at least next weekend’s game against Galway.
McCormack said after the game that he felt no pain in training this week, and he was just happy to be able to help out.
“It’s not too bad,” he said in regards to the hamstring.
“I didn’t know myself whether or not I’d be back, but I was training well during the week and Cian said if needs be I’d try it out. But it felt good, and it feels good now anyways to get a bit more game time.”
Cian O’Neill said that he’d check on McCormack’s fitness in the coming days, while also indicating that he may be involved from the start against Galway next Sunday to build up some more game time.