Ronan Quinn is one of the young men of the present Kildare squad who believe that this could be the year to end the county's football famine, despite the current injury problems. On a personal note, though, the injury plagued 24-year-old Leixlip man dreads the thought that a thumb bone fracture sustained in the drawn Leinster semi-final against Meath and which keeps him out of Sunday's replay could deny him the chance of possible further participation in the All-Ireland series. Already a strong contender for finishing up the "unluckiest player of the championship", Quinn admits to being "gutted" since the doctor told him last week that he will be out of action for anything up to eight weeks.
Severe groin injuries on both sides put his county career on ice in 1992, when he was only 19. He was determined to get back, and good performances with Leixlip did not go unnoticed by Kildare manager Mick O'Dwyer and his scouts. Quinn's chance came after John Finn, the man in possession of the full back spot, broke down injured. Quinn was thrilled to be back, but only 17 minutes had elapsed of last Sunday week's semi-final when disaster struck once more. In obvious agony from the thumb injury, he was replaced by Martin Ryan.
"The trouble with an injury is there is no guarantee of regaining your place with so many players in the queue. You can only hope that while you were there you did well enough to feel deserving of another chance when you're right," he says.
Those among the crowd of 46,598 who watched in awe at the fitness levels displayed by both Kildare and Meath in the drawn game need not be too surprised. "We have been running around the Curragh plains and Meath have been charging up and down the Hill of Tara for weeks," says Quinn.
"There is so much more being put into the fitness aspect of the game these days, the hours we spend running and no ball work at all, all running . . . it pays off." However, there could be a cost. "It could be one of the big tasks for managers and coaches to keep levels up from (National) League right through to the end of championship bids," says Quinn. "There could be problems to be faced up to in this regard. A lull can be expected at some stage, maybe after the Leinster final or All-Ireland semi-final or whatever. The big task then would be to get over that lull and get back up in a way that Meath survived last year.
"We finished up our League campaign against Cork in April and then we had seven weeks in between the Cork game and the first round of the championship against Laois. I feel that the timing between League and championship has been a help to us and one of the reasons for us being in such good shape at present," he says.
Quinn's injury denies him the opportunity of full involvement in training, but he joins in the running and some other exercises. Speaking about Sunday's match he says: "A repeat of Kildare's display in the drawn match should be enough for us to carry the day this time. We went into that game saying `yeah, we can beat these guys' but, probably, now we are saying, `if we can play as well as the last day we'll be there at the end'. Whether it's a point on the right side or the wrong side we know we'll be there or thereabouts."
Quinn continues: "We got a super start the last day. That's not going to happen again, a goal and a point in less than two minutes. It was a great platform. Meath will probably go all out this time for an early lead, but even if they do manage this as long as we can stay within a point or two of them we will be there at the finish.
The duel between Martin Lynch and Meath's Darren Fay on the fringe of the square will be crucial, he thinks, and midfield will also be vital. "It proved about even the last day and there should again be a lot of ball dropping loose. Under such circumstances I would see Declan Kerrigan as a key player for us to get our forwards going.
