NO MATTER WHAT happens from here on in, June 30 and the week leading up to it will be a defining moment in Cian O’Neill’s tenure as Kildare manager.
A week that started with a defiant Kildare stance on “Newbridge or Nowhere” finished with a victory over 2017 All-Ireland finalists Mayo, O’Neill’s first championship win as Kildare manager over a Division One outfit.
Last Saturday may turn out to be defining moments for both of these teams. Kildare now have a massive opportunity to make the last eight, but for this Mayo team, this may possibly the end of an era.
Kildare intensity
One of the greatest attributes this Mayo team have had over the years has been the sheer workrate they bring to games. They were known for their high numbers of tackles, winning of turnovers, and a massive intensity level. On Saturday evening they were second best on these fronts, and Kildare were the team that came with a massive hunger and drive for the game.
Kildare finished the game with a total of 50 tackles to Mayo’s 42. They also won the turnover battle 24-20, meaning they won the intensity battle 74-62. This will be something that will be of great delight to O’Neill and his troops: that they are physically able to match the big boys and come out on top. This was a key factor in securing the victory against Mayo.
Agreat example of this came when the sides were level with five minutes of normal time to go and Peter Kelly got a near hand challenge into Cillian O’Connor and Kildare broke. Another was the last gap tackle on Aidan O’Shea in the final minutes to get a hand in to dispossess the Breaffy man and ensure that Mayo didn’t get the equalising point at the time. Instead, Kildare went up the pitch and stretched the gap to two points. Credit must also go to Kildare back Mick O’Grady who contributed four tackles and two turnovers won.
A day for the shooters
The qualifers always seem to bring something special to the championship and this game may have just provided the championship with the spark that it needed. This game provided end-to-end action, 40 scores, and only two points between the teams at the finish – this was championship football at its best.
Both sets of forwards were definitely on top. Two players stood out in this regard. Patrick Durcan had a sensational game for Mayo scoring four points from play, incredible going by the Castlebar man who for most of the game was also picking up Neil Flynn. Durcan is a joy to watch, bombing forward up the wings taking on defences. He alone is a loss to the 2018 championship.
For Kildare, many of their players stood up to the plate on Saturday evening. Daniel Flynn started the game brilliantly; he had the measure of Ger Cafferkey from the start and scored two points from play and won two kickable frees.
The player that will haunt the Mayo backs for a long time though is Paul Cribbin. He delivered possibly his best performance to date for Kildare, delivering four points from play that sent Stephen Rochford’s side packing.
An area of concern for O’Neill will be the 19 points that his team conceded, and also that they gave Mayo eight kickable frees from which the visitors score seven points.
The shooting percentages in this game were extremely close. Kildare had 38 attacks compared to Mayo’s 37. The total number of shots was 33-32 in favour of the Lilywhites with both teams having an attack efficiency of 86% – a contributing factor to the end-to-end play we witnessed. Kildare however finished with a 63% shooting efficiency to Mayo’s 59%.
Kickouts
Interestingly Mayo won the kickout battle. They retained 78% of their own kickouts and won 33% of Kildare’s. Both teams tried to get a high press on the opposition’s restarts. They did however find it hard early on to turn them over.
The turning point in the kickout battle came in the 51st minute. Until then Kildare had only won one of David Clarke’s kickouts, but the physical toll of this game was starting to catch up on Mayo and Kildare finished the game winning a total of seven Mayo kickouts, six of these coming in the final quarter.
Conclusion
For Mayo it looks like this may be the end of the road for this current bunch. No doubt they will regroup and try to go to the well again like they have done throughout the last decade. It would be foolish to rule them out of having Connacht success in the near future but it would seem that All-Ireland glory is out of this group’s reach.
This Mayo team deserve massive respect and credit for the character and strength they have shown in the last decade. They have continued to bounce back from every knock they’ve taken. They have brought entertainment to the championship more than any other team, from edging over the line in qualifiers to near-misses in All-Ireland finals.
Fermanagh now stand in the way of Cian O’Neill and Kildare and a place in the Super 8s. This victory against Mayo will count for absolutely nothing if they do not beat Rory Gallagher’s Fermanagh. Fermanagh are a tough defensive outfit and will be no pushovers.
Kildare simply cannot give away the amount of kickable frees and scoring chances they did against Mayo if they are to progress. What should stand to them is that they played against a similar system in their defeat to Carlow. If they learned from that day, it will see them over the line against Fermanagh.
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