New substitution rule a real bonus
Kildare manager David Herity waxed lyrical about the strength in depth of his panel following their emphatic victory against Donegal in Division 2B of the National Hurling League at St Conleth’s Park on Saturday.
Courtesy of a new rule introduced by the GAA, the Kilkenny native was able to use seven permanent substitutions during their first competitive outing of 2021. James Dolan also appeared briefly as a blood replacement and Herity believes there is a healthy competition for places within the Lilywhites.
“It’s very pleasing the fact that we obviously got a very good win, but we managed to use the bench as well. I think it’s brilliant that the GAA have brought in that seven sub rule. Because there’s a huge amount of lads that have put in a massive amount of training since Christmas,” Herity explained.
“They know their roles and I thought they played it extremely well. That’s what we’ve always tried to do with Kildare. Try and get a very strong panel together and I’m very happy that we have that at the moment.”
Having picked up two league points in style, Kildare will hope to do likewise when Derry come to the Kildare Centre of Excellence in Hawkfield on Sunday (throw-in 4pm). The Oak Leaf county have proven to be stubborn opponents in recent years and Herity is expecting another titanic struggle this time around.
“It has been extremely close. There was two points in it here two years ago and it was level in Derry last year. It’s going to be a very, very competitive game. We know ourselves we’re going to need the bench again at all times.
“They’ve a lot of experience. They were very unlucky, the lost the last two Division 2B finals. They’ll do everything they possibly can to get up to this year,” Herity added.