Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We are heading white direction says Sweeney
FACING the old boss is the draw that could see Kildare buck the trend of recent years.
The last time beaten Leinster finalists won their next game in the Championship was seven years ago when the Lilywhites saw off Wicklow after losing the decider to Dublin. Although they were defeated by nine points by the Dubs in Sunday’s provincial decider, Kildare’s display should provide belief to Cian O’neill’s panel that they can progress to an All-ireland quarter-final.
But if that isn’t enough, then they can throw in the fact they are meeting former manager Kieran Mcgeeney and his Armagh side in a Round 4B qualifier on Saturday week at Croke Park.
The counties have never met in the Championship but they will not be strangers due to Mcgeeney’s presence on the touchline for the Orchard men.
He was in charge of Kildare from 2007 to 2013, reaching the last eight in the Championship on five successive occasions between 2008 and 2012.
But the 45-year-old lost the role by a single county board vote in September 2013. It was an outcome that was greeted by anger by the players at the time. Ronan Sweeney, the former
Kildare defender who played under Mcgeeney and is now team coach, believes the Lilywhites have managed to close the gap in the province.
“You’d like to think so,” the Moorefield man said. “We still lost by nine points, which is a bit of beating in fairness, but we are getting there. “We are making progress. There’s no doubt about it, just thinking about where we started the year to where we are now. We had a loss on Sunday but I we’ve know made progress. The next two weeks are going to be huge for this team in terms of how we react.”