THE PASSION. The pain. Another footballing Sunday and yet more players end the match early. Five players received their marching orders in three championship games yesterday, but it was Kildare's reversal of fortunes which epitomised the sheer passion of it all.
A lone Laois official ventured into the opposition dressing room after Kildare - reduced to 13 men within the opening ten minutes of their Leinster championship encounter - had conjured up a deserved 1-11 to 1-7 win at Croke Park. "For Jaysus sake, lads," said the voice. "For us all, don't just stop at beating Leix, go on and heat Dublin or Meath too." Certainly, Kildare defied the odds yesterday and if manager Mick O'Dwyer was among those chaired off the pitch by the team's delirious supporters afterwards, he was one of the first to admit the real miracle workers were actually out on the pitch.
The victory produced a sweet smile, but the news that the next outing to the championship the Leinster semi final against either Dublin or All Ireland champions Meath falls in a month, on July 6th, produced a sigh of relief. It means Johnny McDonald and Martin Lynch, both sent off early on in yesterday's match are likely to be available for the next assignment.
McDonald and Lynch were sent off within 30 seconds of each other in separate incidents just nine minutes into yesterday's game, but Kildare produced one of their best championship performances of recent years to run out four point winners. Glen Ryan scored the Kildare goal - from the penalty spot, ironically a duty normally performed by Lynch - and Laois, who had played with a numerical advantage from that early stage, actually suffered a sending off themselves in the dying moments when David Sweeney was dismissed for a foul on Ryan.
"It was a real nightmare start," confessed Ryan, Kildare's captain. "But there was no point dwelling on it. We had trained for this match for nine months and the onus was on everybody to respond. It just shows what we are capable of doing." Elsewhere, other referees were pointing in the direction of the tunnel, too. Cavan defender Philip Kermath was sent off in the 26th minute of his side's drawn Ulster SEC encounter with Fermanagh at Clones and so will automatically miss the replay which takes place at the same venue next Sunday.
Anthony Forde proved to be the Cavan saviour, kicking the equalising point in the fifth minute of injury time in the 1-12 each draw. It prompted manager Martin McHugh to remark: "We got out of jail again. It is the same old story with us. We are creating plenty of chances, but we are just not taking them. His opposite number, Jim King, took some so ace from the game: "They didn't look three divisions higher than us." There will be no fear or trepidation for the return journey next Sunday.
However, Monaghan learnt that it is important to accept the first bite at the cherry. Seven days previously, Monaghan were deemed unlucky not to beat favourites Derry in the Ulster championship. Yesterday, in Derry's Celtic Park, Monaghan had Stephen McGinnity, their main scorer from the previous encounter, sent off and suffered a 2-15 to 0-10 defeat. Dermot Dougan and predictably, Joe Brolly got the Derry goals.
On Saturday evening, Westmeath, too, had discovered that you must take your first chance when going down to Offaly in the Leinster championships replay at Mullingar, beaten by 1-14 to 0-7. "We played with passion, and that was the difference from the first match," said Offaly manager Tommy Lyons.
On the hurling front, Offaly survived a poor display on an unsatisfactory playing surface at Croke Park yesterday to edge out Laois 1-11 to 2-7 in a first round Leinster championship match.
