McGeeney cites magic without Johnston

LEINSTER SFC SEMI-FINAL:FOR A team that has the apparent depth and unquestionable strength to outstrip most counties it seems strange Kildare are still discussing the need for someone else, and manager Kieran McGeeney entirely agrees.

Rarely has any team progressed to a Leinster football semi-final more comfortably, nor indeed as impressively. Their 13-point win over Offaly on Sunday produced eight different scorers from play, an exhibition of place-kicking from Mikey Conway, and a five-man onslaught from the bench that included rising star Pádraig Fogarty and two-time All Star Dermot Earley.

Others such as Gary White, Ronan Sweeney, and Andrew Mac Lochlainn went unused, and McGeeney has the added bonus of being able to utilise players in several different positions; Rob Kelly’s dominance at midfield on Sunday just one example.

It means McGeeney is fairly spoilt for choice when it comes to naming his starting line-up for the semi-final showdown against Meath on July 1st, and yet still loitering in the background is the now marathon running saga of Seánie Johnston’s transfer from Cavan.

Johnston was actually in the background of the Kildare panel in Portlaoise on Sunday, clearly part of the panel now in spirit if not name, although still not officially cleared to play in the white strip.

“Honestly, I think we’re all fed up talking about it,” says McGeeney. “I know it makes good headlines for some of ye, but for me and most people involved in the GAA all we want to see what is what happens on the football field.

“There’s about 10 footballers have done the same thing over the last six or seven years, and nobody has ever talked about them. Seánie is a good footballer, no doubt about that.

“He was told he wasn’t wanted [by Cavan], and so he moved somewhere else.

“There’s one or two people in particular trying to keep it going, but he’s here [in Kildare] to play football, and that’s my only concern.

“People can like me or loathe me for it. You play whoever’s available to you, and that’s it.

I’m not trying to bring down the GAA, contrary to popular opinion. We don’t need to wear black armbands out there because we’re destroying the ethos of the GAA.”

The last stumbling block, it seems, in Johnston’s change in allegiance is that according to the new GAA rules on transfers, the individual must first play club championship for their new club, before being eligible for their new county: Johnston has played a league game for his new club, St Kevin’s, but with no club championship matches fixed before Kildare’s semi-final outing it seems he will once again remain in the background.

McGeeney is clearly keen to move on, and even with his current strength and depth, knows Meath will present an entirely different challenge to Offaly: “Aye, Meath and ourselves have been very nip and tuck over the last number of years.

“John Evans has come in there [with Séamus McEnaney], and Trevor Giles too, and you can see their influence on the team, the way they’re playing their football.

“Brian Farrell is there in the corner now, seems to be playing well. They’ve changed their system, they’ve changed their style, and they’re going to be very confident for the game against us.”

As for Kildare’s own level of confidence, McGeeney places that at the foot of results, aware perhaps of how quickly it can all change: “You can talk about strength and depth, but like everything, that’s only there once you win. But you can only play 15 at a time.

“Hopefully we can push on now for the next two weeks, but 19 scores, and eight different scorers from play, we can be happy enough with that.”

The Leinster Council have confirmed that tickets for the football semi-final double-bill in Croke Park are now on sale.

Kildare will face Meath on Sunday, July 22nd at 2pm, followed by Dublin against Wexford at 4pm. Stand tickets are priced at €30, Hill 16 €20, with the usual concessions. Tickets can be purchased from the participating County Boards, Leinster Council offices, Tickets.ieand Ticketmaster.