Review of the year: Plenty of positives to take as senior footballers take progressive steps in 2017

Starting his second year as manager of Kildare, Cian O’Neill made a conscious decision to operate with a tighter panel than he had the previous year as he looked to build upon a somewhat encouraging 2016.

Some of the elder statesmen of the panel either retired or were let go by the Lilywhites boss, and a healthy influx of younger players were promoted after showing promising signs at underage level over the years.

Bitter end to O’Byrne Cup

The reduced panel numbers at the beginning of 2017 really began to show in Kildare’s opening game of the O’Byrne Cup when – missing the college players in the panel – Eamonn Callaghan was summoned from the bench just hours after hopping off a plane from his honeymoon in Florida, but the Naas veteran stepped in to play the final minutes of the win over Longford as a blood sub.

A settled team playing with a degree of attacking verve and defensive competence that was far from the championship days of 2016, hopes were high heading into the semi-final of the January competition against All-Ireland champions Dublin. While few would make too much of a loss to the Dubs, there was plenty of doom and gloom coming from the mouths of supporters leaving St Conleth’s Park on the back of a 0-16 to 2-8 defeat to a third string Dublin team who were put forward to compete while the main men were on their holidays in sunnier climates. Kildare’s failure to push on after leading by four points early on was the main worry, with the defence being exposed by a vibrant team led by eventual All-Ireland winner Niall Scully. "We’re disgusted; It’s not disappointed, we’re disgusted to lose a match like that that we should have been controlling,” remarked a disappointed Cian O’Neill following the game.

A League of extraordinary gentlemen

The expectations coming into the league campaign were somewhat hard to gauge. It was evident that Kildare had a young and talented team who had shown plenty of potential in January, but would the defence hold up against more potent attacks than those faced in Division 3 a year previous? Would the midfield break even with their counterparts? Would the forward unit possess enough panache to get the scores needed to stay in the division or push on?

The first objective was to ensure that the Lilywhites would not be making a quick return to the third tier.

When Kildare travelled to Navan to take on old rivals Meath in the opening game of the league it gave a taster of what was to come as the Lilywhites turned in an attacking performance straight out of the top drawer to dispatch the Royals by 3-17 to 0-16. Ben McCormack marked his first league start by netting a goal after just 16 seconds and adding a further three points from play after that, while Niall Kelly’s impressive league campaign began with a 2-2 haul that afternoon in Páirc Tailteann.

When Cork arrived to St Conleth’s Park for the first home league game of the year it looked like this would be a true test of Kildare’s credentials, and they passed it with a degree of composure as they managed to hold off a Rebel fightback and comfortably win by 1-14 to 1-8. They led by eight points at one stage after Ben McCormack netted a 51st minute goal, while Neill Flynn landed six points in total.

Hopes were high heading to Derry after the Oak Leaf men had been thoroughly hammered by Meath in their previous game, backing up a draw at home to Clare in their opener with a 3-15 to 0-9 defeat in Navan. And while James Kielt was in stunning form on a day in which he kicked nine points, Kildare led by a couple of points in the dying seconds as they looked set to see the game out and escape with a win. A controversial late goal from Emmet McGuckin, who punched the ball through the hands of Mark Donnellan, gifted the home side a win, bringing to an end Kildare’s 100 per cent record.

Somewhat forgivingly, it was an abysmal Fermanagh side who would be making the trip to Newbridge as they took in another pitstop on their route to relegation. The injured Ben McCormack was replaced by Chris Healy in corner-forward for the Derry game, and after notching a goal on that outing he repeated the trick in the 4-14 to 0-14 shellacking of the Erne men. Allied with two early goals from Tommy Moolick and a second half strike from Daniel Flynn, it was probably the most impressive performance Kildare had put in under O’Neill up to that point.

Before Kildare travelled north to Down for a crucial game that would make or break their campaign, the Lilywhites were struck by the blow of losing top scorer Neill Flynn to an appendix problem – the second that the team suffered in 2017 following Emmet Bolton’s operation earlier that season – and he joined fellow attacker Ben McCormack on the sidelines for the games against Down and Clare.

A normally tricky meeting with Down was navigated absolutely superbly by a team that looked well drilled and equipped to face any challenge thrown at them. Kevin Feely put in one of his greatest performances in a Kildare jersey as he dominated the midfield sector and scored five points from frees, landing scores off both his left and right feet. “It’s not something I’d be overly familiar with,” admitted Feely following that game, eluding to the fact that he had never taken frees at intercounty level before.

While the Athy man was man of the match on a wet and miserable night in Newry, it was David Slattery who will remember this game with great fondness as the 27-year-old Confey man announced himself on the intercounty stage with two goals following his half-time introduction, helping the Lilywhites to a 2-9 to 0-10 win.

With promotion secured, O’Neill shuffled his deck and gave first league starts to a whole host of young players for the final round trip to Galway. A relative ‘free hit’ as many described it, if Kildare lost it would mean that the Tribesmen would gain promotion and Meath would miss out. As it happened, plenty of the newcomers put in fine performances to give O’Neill food for thought in the 0-14 to 0-13 defeat, most notably Fionn Dowling, who had been making big impacts off the bench all year up to that point.

When it came to the league final against the same opposition two weeks’ later, there was a place for the Suncroft man in the team as his form was rewarded. Similar to a year previous, Kildare stumbled in the final and succumbed to an 0-18 to 0-16 defeat to a Galway side that came alive in the final quarter to outscore the Lilywhites by 0-7 to 0-2 to grab the win. On the Kildare side that day there were some flaws exposed in attack due to the absence of Daniel Flynn and Neill Flynn, but Niall Kelly was exceptional and tagged on five points from play in a fine performance.

Highs and lows of summer

Onto a championship campaign then, and the familiar blue and white jerseys of Laois stood in the way of Kildare as they looked to go one better than recent years and make it to a first provincial final since 2009. The Lilywhites travelled to Tullamore not knowing what to expect from a Laois side that had been relegated to Division 4 in the spring, but there was a suspicion that they would be much stronger than their league form suggested.

There was certainly a sense of reservation among the crowd in O’Connor Park when Donie Kingston waltzed through the Kildare defence to slot home an early goal. The response from Kildare was supreme however, with Cathal McNally particularly inspirational in the opening quarter as he chipped in with three points, while Niall Kelly, Ollie Lyons and Daniel Flynn all registered points as Kildare led by 0-12 to 1-2 at the break.

Kildare assumed complete control after the break, with Daniel Flynn particularly prominent as he bagged 1-3 in total in the 1-21 to 1-7 rout of the O’Moore men. It set Kildare up perfectly for a long run in the championship, and it was also the first of a few fine performances from Flynn who would go on to earn an All-Star nomination at the end of the season.

Brophy looked lively, if a little rusty, on his first championship appearance as he scored two points in a 2-16 to 0-13 win for Kildare. Daniel Flynn was once again immense, catching the eye with his flamboyant style that was marking him out as a neutral’s favourite around Ireland, but it was his clubmate, Cathal McNally, who was the most impressive player on the park that evening. Having been in and out of the team in the league, McNally was now enjoying his finest championship to date.

“I wasn’t playing well really[in the league], and then, lucky for me and unlucky for other lads, they got injured and I got a chance and thank God I’m after taking it,” McNally told the Kildare Post after scoring 1-3 against the Royals.

“Maybe earlier on in the league I was sulking a little bit, thinking I should be playing and I wasn’t playing well. I just put the head down and worked harder and thank God it has worked out.”

Dubs a step too far

It set up a Leinster final meeting with Dublin in Croke Park as Cian O’Neill’s men bridged an eight-year gap from their last appearance. There was a serious shortage of Leinster final experience in the panel, with just Emmet Bolton and Eamonn Callaghan survivors from the 2009 team that lost to Dublin in their last appearance.

The rest of the country were wondering whether Kildare’s scintillating form meant that they could realistically challenge the All-Ireland champions, but Niall Kelly was confident that he and his teammates could at least leave a mark on them.

“We don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion by any means,” he said in the build-up to the game.

Captain Eoin Doyle played through the game with a splint on his broken left hand, and he would subsequently miss the county’s following game after undergoing surgery the next morning.

The fears held by those who thought Kildare would just be another speedbump on the Dubs’ road to another All-Ireland title were soon coming to pass as Jim Gavin’s men sailed into a 2-4 to 0-1 lead after 18 minutes. Kildare rallied before the break to narrow the gap to just four points, but Dublin had done the groundwork and sailed through with a 2-23 to 1-17 win. It wasn’t all bad for Kildare, who competed on many fronts quite well, especially in midfield where Kevin Feely dominated Brian Fenton in one of the best individual displays of any player over the course of the season.

Old friend haunts Lilies

Kieran McGeeney’s exit from the Kildare hotseat following a county board vote in 2013 was one of the GAA stories of that year, so his, and – Armagh’s – inevitable pairing with the Lilywhites at the final qualifier stage of the championship had an extra bit of spice to it.

Kildare were strong favourites going into a game against the Division 3 outfit, and their championship form to that point offered plenty of encouragement. McGeeney produced a tactical masterclass however, and perhaps his in depth knowledge of many of Kildare’s most important players was instrumental in plotting their downfall.

The Orchard County won a ferocious game by 1-17 to 0-17, with the Kildare attack being largely snuffed out and Armagh’s propensity to break at pace paying off handsomely. Jamie Clarke was superb as he chipped in with four points from play, while Andrew Murnin’s goal ultimately proved to be the decisive blow.

“I thought Armagh executed better than us,” was Cian O’Neill’s frank assessment of the game.

Another dawn in sight After what has to be described as a successful 2017, Kildare will be looking to compete in Division 1 of the National League and build on their early championship performances. Emmet Bolton announced his retirement from the intercounty game over the autumn, while Ollie Lyons has been let go and Shane McNamara has stepped away.

10 new panel members are involved in the winter training panel, and they will be looking for as much involvement as possible when the O’Byrne Cup gets underway on January 3 when they take on Louth in Hawkfield.

"It’s exciting; a third of our squad is brand new, which is something to look forward to," remarked O’Neill ahead of the new season, and it won’t be long at all until Kildare emerge onto the Croke Park turf for their first league game against Dublin in the new year.