FOR KILDARE FORWARD Daniel Flynn, sticking together through the dark days helped bond the Lilywhites squad as much as the ‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ saga that enveloped the country last week.
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Three qualifier wins on the bounce have left Kildare one game shy of the Super 8s, a far cry from the Leinster quarter-final defeat to Carlow in May which was their 12 straight loss across the O’Byrne Cup, league and championship.
“A sick dog waiting to be put down, I think that’s how it was put,” said Flynn of their predicament after the early departure from Leinster.
“Going up to Derry we didn’t know what to expect but we kind of fed off the win we got up there. We got through another tough game against Longford and fed off that as well.
“I think it’s just the momentum you get in the qualifiers. There’s no magic or miracle. We didn’t change anything in training, maybe we just got on top a few times and that criticism has bonded us together a bit more as well.
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“We lost an awful lot of close games. We just didn’t stop. We were disastrous in the league. We sort of buckled folded whenever the pressure came on but we thrived on it this time. I don’t know what it is. Maybe we hit rock bottom against Carlow.
“It’s just sport, isn’t it? When we lost against Carlow we all came together and we said that were all in it together and that we were the only ones who could fix this.”
And fix it they did, with tough away wins arriving over Derry and Longford, before Cian O’Neill’s side took a stand against the GAA’s attempt to deny them home advantage against Mayo.
“Cian texted us before he went on the telly and asked what everyone wanted to do. He asked did we want to play the game in Newbridge and everyone said yes. That was the end of it on our part.
“Anyone that rang us, we just said we didn’t want to talk about it. It was understandable. We just wanted to concentrate on the game and play the match.”
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
While Flynn admitted the stand-off was “starting to get on my nerves for two or three days”, he could see how it created a groundswell of support in the county. They went on to enjoy a famous win over Mayo in what was one of the county’s biggest results of the last 15 years.
“I think it did have something to do with (the Mayo win), especially the whole saga and drama that went with it. I think if it had been just fixed for Newbridge and that was that and nothing was made of it it would have been just another home game.
“I’ve never seen the support we got this week. The whole county was covered in white. That had a big impact on it.
Flynn continued: “We’re training (in Newbridge) the whole time, like, so we’re fairly comfortable here. I’ve never seen an atmosphere like it here so maybe we all fed off it, the crowd included. It was great.
“My girlfriend is only after starting an internship and she said people were coming up to her asking if she was going to Newbridge. We fed off that. We thrived on it.”
Fermanagh are the last hurdle before the Super 8s on what is shaping up as a seismic weekend for Kildare. Their U20s contest the Leinster final tonight against Dublin in Tullamore, while the county’s juniors face Kerry in the All-Ireland junior football semi-final tomorrow.
“There’s no second chances now,” he added. “It was the same with Longford and the same with Derry. We just have to keep focused on our performance and hopefully we get through it again.”
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How Kildare went from 'a sick dog waiting to be put down' to touching distance of Super 8s
FOR KILDARE FORWARD Daniel Flynn, sticking together through the dark days helped bond the Lilywhites squad as much as the ‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ saga that enveloped the country last week.
Three qualifier wins on the bounce have left Kildare one game shy of the Super 8s, a far cry from the Leinster quarter-final defeat to Carlow in May which was their 12 straight loss across the O’Byrne Cup, league and championship.
“A sick dog waiting to be put down, I think that’s how it was put,” said Flynn of their predicament after the early departure from Leinster.
“Going up to Derry we didn’t know what to expect but we kind of fed off the win we got up there. We got through another tough game against Longford and fed off that as well.
“I think it’s just the momentum you get in the qualifiers. There’s no magic or miracle. We didn’t change anything in training, maybe we just got on top a few times and that criticism has bonded us together a bit more as well.
“We lost an awful lot of close games. We just didn’t stop. We were disastrous in the league. We sort of buckled folded whenever the pressure came on but we thrived on it this time. I don’t know what it is. Maybe we hit rock bottom against Carlow.
“It’s just sport, isn’t it? When we lost against Carlow we all came together and we said that were all in it together and that we were the only ones who could fix this.”
And fix it they did, with tough away wins arriving over Derry and Longford, before Cian O’Neill’s side took a stand against the GAA’s attempt to deny them home advantage against Mayo.
“Cian texted us before he went on the telly and asked what everyone wanted to do. He asked did we want to play the game in Newbridge and everyone said yes. That was the end of it on our part.
“Anyone that rang us, we just said we didn’t want to talk about it. It was understandable. We just wanted to concentrate on the game and play the match.”
While Flynn admitted the stand-off was “starting to get on my nerves for two or three days”, he could see how it created a groundswell of support in the county. They went on to enjoy a famous win over Mayo in what was one of the county’s biggest results of the last 15 years.
“I think it did have something to do with (the Mayo win), especially the whole saga and drama that went with it. I think if it had been just fixed for Newbridge and that was that and nothing was made of it it would have been just another home game.
“I’ve never seen the support we got this week. The whole county was covered in white. That had a big impact on it.
Flynn continued: “We’re training (in Newbridge) the whole time, like, so we’re fairly comfortable here. I’ve never seen an atmosphere like it here so maybe we all fed off it, the crowd included. It was great.
“My girlfriend is only after starting an internship and she said people were coming up to her asking if she was going to Newbridge. We fed off that. We thrived on it.”
Fermanagh are the last hurdle before the Super 8s on what is shaping up as a seismic weekend for Kildare. Their U20s contest the Leinster final tonight against Dublin in Tullamore, while the county’s juniors face Kerry in the All-Ireland junior football semi-final tomorrow.
“There’s no second chances now,” he added. “It was the same with Longford and the same with Derry. We just have to keep focused on our performance and hopefully we get through it again.”
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