McGeeney earns points and pints

GAELIC GAMES/Kildare 1-13 Laois 1-11:TOWARDS THE end of our post-match inquiries Kieran McGeeney is passed by Justin McNulty, who extends a hand to his former Armagh team-mate and captain.

“You’re buying so,” says McGeeney, who then raises a rare smile. It was a nice moment of friendly banter from the Kildare manager, but there was no disguising the serious satisfaction he took from this victory — and not just because it meant he got the better of his old friend, now in charge of Laois.

This was billed as one of the potentially defining games of Division Two, and as a contest it certainly didn’t disappoint. Kildare’s win – and a first defeat of the campaign for Laois – keeps the race for promotion excitingly tight. Laois still top the table on points difference, but otherwise level with Donegal and Derry, with Kildare now just one point behind.

There was never a whole lot between the sides throughout the 70 minutes: level three times in the last 20 minutes, Kildare only gained the decisive advantage in the final two minutes thanks to two terrific frees from Eoghan O’Flaherty – much to the delight of the passionate home support. It was Kildare’s first time to go in front since the opening minute, but was, of course, the ideal time too.

Before that the momentum had swung either way through the two goals. Laois struck first after just three minutes when Colm Begley finished off an excellent move with a thundering shot past Shane Connolly. Then on 43 minutes Kildare effectively benefitted from an own goal. James Kavanagh’s close-range shot was brilliantly saved by Micheal Nolan, but the ball was then deflected into the Laois net by their defender Denis Booth, who was obviously disgusted with his luck. That reduced the deficit on Laois to one point and gave Kildare added incentive.

“Sure, we got a bit lucky with the goal,” admitted McGeeney. “It was a fantastic save by your man. And the defender probably didn’t even see it coming. That was a wee bit of luck, but I’ll take it. We don’t get much of it. But I’d be very happy with the win, from a mental point of view, I think they dug deep and used their brains in the last five minutes. Laois were hard to break down. They were keeping a lot of men behind the ball, and we also kicked some silly ball away in the middle half of the game.

“I think the word got through and they started to play some intelligent football, and that paid off. Sometimes smart football can be a lot better than physical football.”

John Doyle was a late withdrawal through illness, and McGeeney drafted Daryl Flynn into the forward line, who contributed two fine points before reverting to midfield. Gary White also played well in defence on his return, with Michael Foley impressing again at full-back. In fact Kildare enjoyed the greater share of possession, but couldn’t always hold onto it as desired, also missing some kickable frees along the way.

Laois are definitely playing some fresh determined football under McNulty, and frequently moved the ball from end to end with ferocious pace. They had difficulties, however, in winning their own kick-outs, even with Pádraig Clancy showing up well alongside John O’Loughlin, and at times also looked a little uncertain in defence.

Ross Munnelly is playing good football again, and kicked five points, his three in the first half helping Laois into a 1-5 to 0-3 advantage after 20 minutes. Kildare responded with four points without reply, including two frees from Ronan Sweeney, before one of two powerfully-struck points from Darren Strong restored the Laois lead to three, 1-7 to 0-7, at half-time.

It might well have been a different result had Booth not diverted the Kildare goal into his own net, although in the end McNulty had few complaints.

“I couldn’t fault the effort,” he said, “or the application of the lads. They tried everything. Of course we’re disappointed to come out on the losing side of such an important game, a derby game. But Kildare were probably deserving winners, on the whole, even if the elements of fortune went their way.

“It was a lucky goal, a great save by Mick first of all. Denis just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think we did pretty well, but we just weren’t able to take enough of our opportunities to get the result we were looking for. Winning kick-outs is something we need to work on. We’ll have to change that if we’re serious about competing with the really top teams. And it’s Tyrone next, on Saturday night. We’re under no illusions. Hopefully we can pick up the pieces.”

KILDARE: S Connolly; H McGrillen, M Foley, O Lyons; G Whyte (0-1), B Flanagan, E Bolton (0-1); H Lynch, P O’Neill; R Sweeney (0-4, 0-3 frees), E O’Flaherty (0-2, frees), F Dowling; K Cribbin (0-1), R Kelly (0-2), D Flynn (0-2). Subs: J Kavanagh (1-0) for Lynch (25 mins), A Smith for Dowling (59 mins), M O’Flaherty for Bolton (61 mins).

LAOIS: M Nolan; R Kehoe, K Meaney, D Booth; D Strong (0-2), S Julian, C Healy; P Clancy, J O’Loughlin (0-1); C Begley (1-0), D Carroll, N Donoher; R Munnelly (0-5), B Sheehan, MJ Tierney (0-3, 0-2 frees). Subs: G Kavanagh for Carroll (30 mins), P O’Leary for Healy (49 mins), M Timmons for Sheehan (67 mins).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).