Change as good as a rest for Rainbow

Strange how a team can suddenly become so unfamiliar. Kildare yesterday were all smiles after beating Longford, but not all recognisable. As a spokesperson then, Anthony Rainbow seems the best qualified, not just because of the familiar face. He's also team captain this season.

"Kildare are going through a change," he says, "but there are a lot of good lads there, who are the future of Kildare football. But we never had any fear of losing that game.

"Even when we were down we just kept plugging away. And we had hold of the ball for around 20 minutes of the second half but just weren't getting the scores. We had those couple of goal chances, and if they had gone in then I think the game would have been over a lot sooner. Then we got the goal we were looking for."

Experience, however, has also taught Rainbow not to get carried away with a single victory, and the mood is calm and collected.

"We are taking each game at a time, absolutely. But we're looking forward, though, to getting back to Croke Park, and the bigger field. The likes of Tadhg Fennin and Derek McCormack can clean up there."

For manager Padraig Nolan, in his first season with his adopted county, the victory finally puts to bed the team's disappointing league form. Time now to look ahead.

"I'm delighted with the win," he says, "because we knew it was always going to be a very tricky one for us. Especially in that we had such a young and new team out there. But they all stood up to the challenge.

"We were behind for a long time, but you have to try and plan for every eventuality, and we were always confident that if we got a big enough pull in the middle of the field then our forwards would put up enough scores on the board.

"And we knew about Longford's twin threat and it was a case of trying to close them down. In fairness, their high ball worked very well in the first half, but David (Lyons) got better as the game went on."

With one win under the belt Nolan is already looking on the rest of the season with a brighter light.

"This will make training a lot sweeter for the next few weeks. And teams always improve with a championship victory, but we know whoever comes next will not be easy. And we have a panel now where there's very little difference between the players, and a lot of it goes on form in training. That's a strength in many ways and we'll all get confidence out of that."

Longford manager Denis Connerton, meanwhile, emerges from the dressing-room clearly down, but not totally out.

"We'd put a major effort into that, and with 10 minutes left we were still there in it.

"But Kildare definitely stepped it up a gear. And they got the break with the goal. That came at a very important time for them and it was decisive.

"We made a couple of errors too in the second half, but Kildare were a little stronger around midfield, and had a lot of bigger men who were able to field ball.

"The fact is this was always going to be a difficult one for us. Kildare might be a changed team but they are the Leinster finalists and are still a very good side. But the effort these players have put in is phenomenal. And even in defeat I have to be very proud of them."