With Daryl Flynn an inspirational figure around midfield and Dermot Earley on the comeback trail, confidence remains high in Kildare that they can build on the promise of recent seasons, writes KEITH DUGGAN

WHEN THE All-Ireland champions take the field in Newbridge tomorrow, the applause of the Kildare people will have as much to do with anticipating the year ahead as recognising Dublin’s achievement last summer.

No team gave as much to last year’s All-Ireland championship while getting so little back. The long-term project of getting Dermot Earley back to full health from the cruciate ligament which has left him sidelined for over a year and a half remains central to the Lillywhites’ season.

In what promises to be a very competitive year in Gaelic football, Kildare are probably the dark horse in many people’s eyes; the team who could click and sweep all before them. And if the Irish Army officer can resume his career with the tremendous athleticism still intact, their chances improve yet again.

But Kildare have learned to adapt as a team in Earley’s absence and one of the least heralded stars of that interim period has been Daryl Flynn.

“Daryl has been very inspirational for us over the last couple of years,” says selector Niall Carew.

“He would have partnered Dermot a lot and he would do a lot of unseen work around there. And when Dermot got injured against Meath in the first few minutes, Daryl very much took over. Because when you are looking at a player like Dermot Earley, you do tend to focus on him rather than who is beside him.

“So Daryl had always been very honest and we have always regarded him as our most consistent player. That is only coming to light generally in the past couple of years.

“But if we were to look back at all the teams we have picked, Daryl is probably the first name that we put down, especially at the business end of the year.”

Flynn had nailed down a midfield partnership beside Earley by the beginning of the 2010 championship, which began for Kildare with an early June exit from the Leinster campaign after a shoot-out with Louth and ended after a nailbiting All-Ireland semi-final against Down, when Kildare came within a crossbar of reaching the All-Ireland final.

Earley’s cruciate injury had occurred in the quarter-final against Meath and one of the abiding images of Kildare’s exit from the championship was of Earley, on crutches, consoling his disappointed team-mates.

Nobody could have predicted then that the injury would cost Earley so dearly in 2011. But by last summer, Kildare once again became locked in a battle against fate as much as opposition football teams. But for the controversial free at the end of the semi-final against Dublin, their summer might have turned out differently.

And but for the iffy decision to disallow Tomás O’Connor’s goal when Kildare were in command of the quarter-final against Donegal, they would have had a firm grip on that match going into the last 20 minutes of normal time.

However, Kildare’s story under Kieran McGeeney has been one of lurching from drama to drama and they were bitterly unlucky to come out the wrong end of that gripping encounter against Jim McGuinness’s men.

The injury to Earley prompted the Kildare management to pitch John Doyle into midfield at the outset of the campaign. He advertised his versatility with a virtuoso performance against Wicklow, prompting Mick O’Dwyer to declare him “still one of the best players in the game”.

Ahead of the Donegal game, however, Kildare had been making noises that their leader was being targeted in what had become a gruelling qualifying campaign. The fears were realised: seconds after the throw-in, Doyle and Donegal’s Michael Hegarty collided accidentally and neither player was quite the same afterwards.

Kildare had to play that game with Doyle struggling. And it was then, with Earley on the long-term casualty list and Doyle unable to tap into his “A” game, that Flynn’s importance to the team shone. As the game grew from a slow-grind into a supreme heavyweight struggle, Flynn was brilliant, mixing the old-fashioned virtues of a midfielder while slipping easily into the fast running game that the team employs.

“He was particularly excellent that day. But he has had a lot of games like that for us over the past few years. He has emerged as a great leader for the team.

“All players are looking to improve but he is one of those players who will do whatever we ask him to do. He did play centre-back at underage but midfield would have been his prominent position. He might be named at 10 or 12 but he would always drift into the middle.

“Under our regime, he played once or twice full forward in the league last year when he was coming back from injury. He works hard and I do think he is a great all-rounder. He gives everything, he can shoot when it suits, he is a good playmaker and has vision. But he is a great competitor and that is what you need around the middle. He follows instructions and is always working to improve on his general game,” said Carew.

Flynn’s season was all the more impressive given that it was also badly interrupted. He was the recipient of what was regarded as a harsh suspension of six months following a verbal altercation with a referee after his club Moorefield had been beaten in the Leinster club championship in October 2010: Flynn had received two yellow cards during the game.

The punishment was later reduced after appeal and Flynn was back in Kildare colours by March only to damage ankle ligaments in the last training session before the championship match against Wicklow.

His period on the sideline highlighted Kildare’s strength in depth, with Hugh Lynch and Doyle forming an effective partnership which went combustible in the qualifiers against Laois: Doyle struck 1-4 and Lynch finished with 0-3.

But once he regained full fitness, Flynn was restored to the middle for Kildare’s final round qualifying win over Derry. The season ended on that frustrating note against Donegal but now, a few months on, the All-Ireland champions are coming to town and there is plenty of reason for optimism in Kildare.

So with Earley still patiently working through his rehabilitation, he can look forward to returning to a squad with an enviable range of options at midfield.

“To get Dermot back full stop – even to have him in the dressing room full stop will be a great plus for us. So yeah, that would be a great problem for us to have. It keeps everyone on their toes.

“But the great thing is that we are not tied to having Dermot at midfield; he gives us an option up front as well. So we are hopeful that we will be able to make his return halfway through the league. That has always been the plan and it still is, barring a setback.”

As it is, tomorrow’s O’Byrne Cup semi-final has an edge to it. It feels as if the season is beginning properly and Dublin’s visit can only serve to sharpen the focus of the Kildare men on what will be a definitive season. As close as they have pushed for the past two years, major silverware continues to elude them.

They have proven themselves to be among the most fit and athletic and mentally resilient group of the top-10 teams, recovering from Leinster setbacks to rip through the qualifying stages.

The appointment of John Doyle as captain is a nod to the leadership he has demonstrated during Earley’s absence. And the promise of Earley’s return ought to make the gruelling weeks of winter training that little bit easier to take. But for now, it is enough to have the All-Ireland champions coming to town.

“The anticipation is something,” Carew says. “It is brilliant for Kildare people to have the Dubs down. We are used to playing them in their own back garden so it ideal to have them in Newbridge. We know it is going to be a tough challenge but there have been great preparations for what’s to come.”

When they met in the Leinster championship last year, both Earley and Flynn were missing and John Doyle spent his afternoon in a covering role. With Ronan Sweeney opening Kildare’s year with an impressive display at midfield, the Lilywhites look set to be a force to contend with in the middle this year.

Tomorrow’s match is hardly the be-all and end-all but it has the feel of one of those games that could defy the low expectations of a damp January day.

“I think it is what both teams will be hoping for because we have tough opening games in the league. Dublin have Kerry and we play Tyrone. So I know that we are thrilled to be playing Dublin at the right time – two weeks before the National League. It is perfect preparation because winning or losing won’t make or destroy anyone’s season.

“But it will certainly give us a good indication of where we are at and if we have the right team out and if we have the right balance out there.”

Johnson in limbo as move put on hold

THE POSSIBILITY of Seanie Johnston swapping Cavan for Kildare seems to have died away as quickly as it arose. The decision by his club, Cavan Gaels, not to seek a hearing on his behalf with the DRA, leaves the forward in limbo and unless he decides to transfer to a Kildare club, he will not be seen in Lilywhite colours.

Above all counties, Kildare have had mixed fortunes with migrating players. They benefited from the arrival of Karl O’Dwyer when his father, Mick, was in charge of the county in the 1990s.

The 1998 team that won the Leinster title and made it to the All-Ireland final also had Brian Lacey, formerly a Tipperary player, in its back line.

They might well have regarded those two bonus arrivals as karma given that Cork’s resurgence in the late 1980s was backboned by two former Kildare players, Larry Tompkins and Shay Fahy.

Brian Murphy, from Cork, scored a crucial goal for Kildare in the 1998 Leinster final defeat of Meath, the year the Lilywhites made it to the All-Ireland decider.

Although the issue of players switching counties remains thorny within the GAA, it is nothing new. Work and circumstances often leave players in a situation where it is all but impossible to continue playing with their native county.

In recent years, Billy Joe Padden swapped Mayo for Armagh, where he now lives. Alan Costello, another former Mayo player, revived his intercounty career with a series of impressive championship performances for Sligo.

Seán Lowry, an All-Ireland winner with Offaly in 1982, was selected for the Mayo squad when he went to live in the county in 1985. Tomás Tierney played for Mayo and Sligo, Martin Carney had a fine career with Donegal before moving to work in Castlebar and wearing the Mayo colours.

Des Newton played for Donegal and Roscommon, Shane King for Down and Fermanagh, Rory Gallagher for Cavan and Fermanagh. Pádraig Brogan had a brief spell with Donegal in the early 1990s but was back playing with Mayo when the two counties met in the All-Ireland semi-final in 1992.

His former Donegal team-mates renewed acquaintances in traditional manner when the Knockmore man came into the match as a substitute.

As far back as 1952, Des And Liam Maguire lined out for Cavan in the All-Ireland final while their brother Brendan was on the Meath team.

Players move on for a variety of reasons and that is not going to change.

Seanie Johnston’s case is exceptional as he hoped to retain his club affiliation while training with another county and the decision of his club not to support that appeal leaves his inter-county career in limbo for now.