Daragh Nolan, 24 May
We may have been in Yeats country but there was little poetry in motion
on the field of play at Markievicz Park on Sunday.
In fact what the 2,933 fans witnessed was testament to everything that
is so wrong with modern day football.
And Kildare certainly led the charge in this respect.
From the throw-in the boys in white played like going forward was not
part of the game-plan.
Once in possession the first notion that seemed to come into a player's
mind was to turn back, find a player behind, move behind the player in
possession and begin the process again and again and again.
It was absolutely nauseating to look at.
If any one of the paying fans nodded off it would have been very
unserstandable.
And to make matters even worse this is not fist time we have seen this
type of 'attacking' play.
And remember this was not Dublin or Kerry or Derry or Galway taking on
a side of similar quality.
This was a game between one side that struggled to retain Division 2
status taking on a side who operated in Division 4 of the league this
season.
Yes, I hear you say, most teams in the country now play the game that
way.
But the difference between the good and for the want of a better word,
the not so good, is that when a decision is made to break, they (the
decent teams) break at pace; break in numbers with players coming off
the shoulder, they break the line and get into a scoring position.
That, unfortunately, was rarely in evidence in Markievicz Park on
Sunday as Ben Benbulbin looked on in near amazement at the proceedings.
One could only wonder what the great Pat Spillane thought of it all.
The former Kerry and RTÉ pundit, present to see his son line out for
the home side and who coined the phrase 'puke football' must have been
scratching his head at what he was witnessing, if indeed not looking
around for the sick bucket.
The sides were level, once, twice, three times, four times, five times
before the visitors opened a big gap — a two point lead but that big
'gap' lasted no more than a minute as the half-time break arrived with
the visitors leading by a single point, and that, playing with a
stiffish breeze.
Not sure what was in the 'tea' the home lads had at the break but they
instantly went on the attack on the resumption, wiped out the lead and
went ahead within minutes .
Meanwhile Kildare fired over two points along with poor attempts on
another three occasions and all that within ten minutes of the restart.
Not sure whether The Lilies were awakened from their safety-first
slumber but in a three minute spell they then picked up three yellow
cards; equalised, took the lead; lost the lead; regained the lead
before putting three points between them and the home side.
Home and hosed we thought.
The expected win, although not overly impressive, was on the way.
But suddenly The Lilies returned to slumber mode while the opposition
decided that maybe there was still something in this game for them.
The lead was reduced to two; the Lilies reduced to 14; the lead reduced
to one; both sides failed with two very scorable attempts; the Lilies
reduced to 13 and then with the home side finding the voices of their
favourites fired over the equalising point — in the 77 minute.
Points shared on the day.
Such was the poor offering on show, no team deserved to win and no team
deserved to lose.
Glenn Ryan said Kildare still have ambitions to top the group.
Tony McEntee said who gains third spot will come down to scoring
difference.
We will let you make up your own mind as to who you think is being the
more optimistic.
It is a long time since we walked, talked and drank in the Yates
country. And on this display, hopefully it will be as long again.
No disrespect intended to you Mr Yates. None what so ever!