O'Neill 'gutted' for hamstrung forward Flynn who suffers another injury setback

Cian O'Neill described his devastation at the injury suffered to Neill Flynn in Kildare's loss to Dublin on Sunday night in the National League. The Maynooth man lasted just two minutes before going off with a hamstring injury after he pulled up when racing for a ball with Dublin defender Darren Daly, putting the rest of his league campaign in doubt in the process.

The exact extent of the injury was not discussed by O'Neill following the game, but it is a worrying one for a player who has been struck down by the same problem constantly in recent times. Flynn has now suffered three hamstring injuries while on Kildare duty in the last eight months, hindering his involvement massively.

"My immediate emotion is that I’m gutted for him," said O'Neill.

"I’m not worried about Kildare selection or anything – I’m gutted for him. He has done a really good rehab plan, he wasn’t rushed back or anything. [It was] very, very gradual. He was playing excellently in training and that’s why he was selected today ahead of some players who people thought might have started.

"Just the way it happened was quite peculiar. It was down the line so I didn’t see it happen really. I’m just devastated for him; he’s a great kid and has worked really, really hard, and for that to happen to him… it’s not nice for him."

There was a strand of predictability to the way Kildare lost out to Dublin on Saturday night in their league opener, though an ultimate twinge of disappointment will always accompany such defeats. When the Lilywhites led by two points at the break there was certainly a feeling that they should have been further ahead, and an even greater sense that Dublin would make them pay.

That they did, scoring 2-5 without response in the third quarter to obliterate Kildare’s chances, and that change in momentum was as much to do with a combination of Kevin Feely’s injury and some errors at the back as it was with Dublin’s increased performance level.

“I think a quality side were ruthless,” said Cian O’Neill after the game.

“We exposed ourselves, turned the ball over way too much and lost control of our kickout strategy. They’re as ruthless as quality champions are; I really feel we were the architects of our own downfall in many things out there. That’s not to say that they wouldn’t have score anyways; they were obviously by far the better side over the 70 minutes, but what is disappointing for us is that – similar to some of the matches we lost last year – we just gave the ball away cheaply and we really paid for it dearly.”

The way in which Dublin bagged two goals in lightning quick fashion was reminiscent of the Kilkenny hurlers on their best days 10 years ago according to O’Neill, who noted that the same problems in the Kildare defence arose on each occasion that Dublin broke through. There was a clear problem with Kildare’s exit strategy, and once Feely suffered injury the Lilywhites were bossed by Brian Fenton in midfield.

“They remind me of Kilkenny in the second half of the 00’s when they don’t just bang in one, they bang in two, ruthlessly and efficiently in a very short period of time and put games to bed,” continued O’Neill.

“We need to take responsibility for our actions. Obviously for the two goals, and I’m just going on recollection, they were both solvable, and both where we lost our man. The first one was a man running through the centre and we got caught blindsided; the second was a breaking ball in our full-back line and nobody tracked the runner coming through again. In terms of source they were both quite similar.”

There is not much time to go before Monaghan arrive in St Conleth’s Park for Kildare’s first home game in the league, and there will be plenty of improvement needed, even in such a short turnaround. With the Farney men losing to Mayo in their own league opener on Sunday, both sides will be noting the importance of this game and thinking that it’s an ideal chance to pick up two points.