Eyeing revenge against the Royals
Daire Walsh
A little over a month on from facing them at Cedral St Conleth’s Park, Laoise Lenehan and the Kildare ladies footballers are set to renew acquaintances with Meath at nearby Manguard Park in Hawkfield this coming Saturday at 12.45pm.
Just seven days after suffering a comprehensive defeat to Dublin in a provincial opener at St Conleth’s, the Lilies found themselves requiring a win against Meath on May 4 in order to secure their spot in this year’s TG4 Leinster senior football championship decider. Their Royal County opponents had established a 2-12 to 0-10 lead on 50 minutes in this round robin clash, before Kildare mounted a gallant fightback to eventually lose by just a single point (2-14 to 1-16) in the end.
Pat Sullivan’s side displayed plenty of grit over the course of the contest and this was also in evidence for their 2-7 to 1-5 success against Meath in a Lidl National Football League Division One encounter held on February 23. Kildare will need to showcase plenty of mental resolve when the teams meet in Group Three of the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship this weekend, but Lenehan is hopeful of claiming a second victory over the Royals in 2025.
“Obviously they’re an outstanding team and a really well established team in the last few years especially. They put up a really, really good performance in the Leinster final [against Dublin]. A game they probably could have won as well,” Lenehan remarked at a recent launch for the All-Ireland ladies football championships at Croke Park.
“We are disappointed we didn’t make the final, we lost by a point to Meath in a game that we probably could have won. We didn’t perform in the first half and we left it too late to come back. Which just goes to show the standard of the senior championship. You have to come out playing from the start, you can’t leave it to the second half. We’ve learnt from that.
“We know how good they are as a team, but we just have to do our best and play the way we can play football from minute one and hopefully get a better result this time around.”
Following this Saturday’s game, Kildare will finish out their All-Ireland group stage campaign away to Armagh on June 21. Winners of a Lidl National Football League Division One crown in 2024, the Orchard County subsequently progressed to the semi-final phase of the same year’s senior championship.
While the Ulster champions were forced to settle for a draw (2-11 to 3-8) against Meath at Pairc Tailteann, Navan last Saturday, they remain formidable operators who are capable of beating any team in the country on their day.
“We played them in the league this year and it was definitely one of our toughest matches in the Division One league this year. They’re a really strong team, runners from everywhere, shooters from everywhere,” Lenehan explained.
“We’ve played them once, understand their system a little bit better, understand their players a little bit better. That was our first time really playing them. Hopefully we can just put out a better performance against them. We know that they’re a really strong team, but we just have to play our game and work towards that.”
Although this year sees Kill club star Lenehan taking over from Grace Clifford as team captain, she has been a key player for Kildare since first making her inter-county debut in 2021. In addition to winning back-to-back Leinster intermediate football championship titles with the Lilies in 2022 and 2023, Lenehan was also a starter for NFL Division Three and All-Ireland intermediate football championship triumphs in the latter year.
The defensive lynchpin was impacted by injuries in 2024, but Kildare ultimately retained their All-Ireland senior football championship status with a relegation play-off victory against Laois at Netwatch Cullen Park on July 13. After returning to the top-tier for the first time in seven years in the wake of their intermediate success of 2023, it was important for the Lilies to prove they can dine at the highest level of ladies football on a more consistent basis.
However, Lenehan is eager for Kildare to push on even further this year and she believes a spot in the All-Ireland SFC knockout rounds is within their grasp.
“Last year was our first year in senior. We were just shy of relegation, so we were happy to stay up, but this year we’re going to push on from there. We have more in us this year, we have that bit more experience,” Lenehan added.
“We just want to go that bit further, get out of our group. Hopefully reach a quarter-final. That is the goal, but we are just looking at Meath, our first game. If we can get a win against Meath, I think we’re through to a quarter-final then.”