"That’s a faulty logic"- O'Neill miffed at the idea of Kildare struggling to cope with Croke Park

In the end it was another evening in Croke Park which saw Kildare fans, players and management walking away in disappointment, and it is hard to know where this team is at following the loss to Armagh.

They went in as slight favourites, even some Kildare fans were discussing the merits of their chances of beating Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final, but a combination of numerous different factors meant that Saturday night would be the Lilywhites' last involvement in championship fare this summer.

Following the game, manager Cian O'Neill was questioned on a number of different things, and it inevitably came down to whether or not he thought the season was a success for Kildare.

“Division 2 promotion was really fantastic for the group,” he stated.

“They performed at a consistent level over a 10 or 11 week period. But when it came to the league final we under-performed.

“We had some great performances against Laois and Meath, then got to a Leinster final against obviously a top team – and we were disappointed that day as well.

“Then you get to this stage and it’s a match we felt we could have won – in many ways should have won – but unfortunately we didn’t. We’ll take the promotion and we’re proud of that but everyone will be disappointed.

“We don’t care about promotion when you’re in the season. We didn’t finish the season where we wanted which was minimum, a quarter-final.”

Last night's loss to Armagh was the seventh time since 2015 that Kildare have been beaten in Croke Park, with just a solitary win over Wexford in the 2016 Leinster Championship their only success in HQ under O'Neill, and while he admitted there was a 'trend' there, he said that different factors meant that it is not some sort of hoodoo that is held over the Kildare players.

“There’s an obvious trend that can’t be denied but if you look at the matches we’ve lost, one was a league final where you’re playing a team of equal ability who will be in Division 1 next year," he said.

“One was a Leinster final – I’m just speaking of this year, where you’re playing the best team in the country of recent years. And then today, which will really rankle with us.

“We felt we were in a good space coming into it. What happened two or three years ago is irrelevant, because this is a totally new group, totally new system.

“Last year was a very, very young and inexperienced team. We had a disappointing defeat against Westmeath, another game we felt we could have won. But I don’t think it’s a Croke Park thing – that’s a faulty logic. We didn’t perform when it mattered most.”