Kildare icon hopes Lilywhites can win Tailteann Cup – and then follow Meath's example by kicking on
Just two years on from winning the second-tier Championship, the Royals
2
Johnny Doyle, pictured for AIB ahead of today's Tailteann Cup final between Kildare and Limerick at 2:30pm
Credit: Inpho
2
Captains Kevin Feely and Cillian Fahy during a Tailteann Cup Final media event
Meath have beaten Dublin, Kerry and Galway and are in the All-Ireland semi-finals for the first time since 2009. They will face Donegal tomorrow at Croke Park.
Down won the 2024 Tailteann Cup to book their place in the race for Sam this summer.
And excellent group-stage wins over Clare and Louth were part of a hugely impressive campaign before their gripping 2-26 to 3-21 All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final loss to Galway.
Now, Doyle hopes Kildare can benefit from the same lift if they beat Limerick in today's Tailteann showpiece at Croke Park.
Read More On GAA
He said: 'No 1, we have to go and win it — and maybe to the outside world Kildare should be beating Limerick. They'll beat them when they've beaten them and they won't beat them before that.
'Teams I've been on myself in the past when people say, 'Oh, you should win that', and we don't win.
'That's the consistency we probably lacked over the last few years, it's, 'Yeah, let's go and win and have no doubt', rather than spend another year in the Tailteann Cup thinking, 'Oh, we need to build for the future'.
'The future is now and we have to capitalise on that, but certainly it would be a big plus to win and kick on.'
Most read in GAA Football
Doyle, 47, is aware that Kildare fans can quickly lose faith.
The Allenwood clubman was their coach under Glenn Ryan but a disastrous 2024 saw them fall into Division 3 of the NFL before a shock Tailteann quarter-final loss to Laois.
Watch RTE pundits' contrasting reaction to full-time whistle of Tipperary's epic win over Kilkenny
They were blasted on social media as things went from bad to worse. Doyle was largely oblivious to it but knew it affected the players.
Ryan walked as boss after that defeat. Brian Flanagan took the reins for this year and, slowly but surely as they returned to Division 2 and saw off all challengers in this year's Tailteann to date, the Kildare support have come back onside.
But Doyle admits last season was a nightmare.
'CAN BE FICKLE'
He said: 'We can be fickle in Kildare. When we're winning the whole place gets behind the team and when you need the support when things aren't going well, that's when you really appreciate it.
'It was tough but to be fair, I mean a lot of people that give out, including myself, I put myself in this bracket and have maybe criticised club managers but when I meet them, I don't . . .
'It's easy to give out but nobody ever came up to me and ate the head off me or gave out to me or anything like that.
'I remember after the Laois game my sister ringing me saying, 'Are you all right?' I said, 'Yeah, I'm OK, just disappointed', and she was like, 'It's just that they're going mad online'.
'But that's part of it, we just have to accept that, but it was tough for everybody. You'd have nothing but the height of respect for those lads that just kept grafting and grafting.
'A lot of them are still there so you'd be so hopeful that they will get over the line because they put in massive work. To a man they stuck at it and hopefully they'll get the rewards.'
AIB, proud sponsors of club and county, were joined by Johnny Doyle to look ahead to the Tailteann Cup final — 2025 marks AIB's tenth year as a sponsor of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and fourth year as a sponsor of the Tailteann Cup.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
Are you going to watch tomorrow's All-Ireland hurling final?
CORK AND TIPPERARY will go head-to-head in tomorrow's All-Ireland hurling final in Croke Park. The Rebels hammered Dublin in the semi-final to reach tomorrow's final, while the Premier County somewhat controversially overcame Kilkenny. It's a big day both at home and for the Irish diaspora abroad, and we want to know: Will you be watching tomorrow's final? Poll Results: Of course (1505) I've no interest (458) I might watch it (279) I'm going to it (147) I'll be following on radio / online (101) Of course I'll be following on radio / online I'm going to it I might watch it I've no interest Vote
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Kerry more hopeful than not of having full hand of players to face Donegal in All-Ireland final
'Most fellas are back training in some shape or form, which is good,' the Kerry manager confirmed at the team's pre-final media briefing on Saturday Kerryman Eight days out from their third All-Ireland football final in four years, Kerry manager Jack O'Connor's glass is looking more full than empty with regard to what has been an injury-blighted season. Having overseen an intense training session in Killarney on Saturday morning, O'Connor – who is preparing for his eighth All-Ireland final as Kerry manager – was happy to report afterwards that all bar one player took part in the full training session, with the inference that the Kingdom should be in a position to select from almost a full hand for next week's showdown with Donegal.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Minnie Hauk makes it more exciting than anticipated but lands Irish Oaks at 2/11
Considering much of the pre-race chat was whether Minnie Hauk might start the shortest priced classic runner ever, Saturday's Juddmonte Irish Oaks turned out to be much more exciting than many had anticipated. Ultimately Aidan O'Brien 's eighth winner of the race, and the 16th filly to complete the Epsom-Curragh Oaks double, won a shade cosily. But those who bet the 2/11 SP must have been momentarily shifting uneasily in the straight as Ryan Moore started to scrub on the hotpot while Dylan Browne McMonagle was motionless in front of him on Wemightakedlongway. The latter was fourth at Epsom and a change of tactics briefly looked like paying off only for Minnie Hauk to ultimately come through and win by just over a length. READ MORE If there was a rather underwhelming feel to the performance, she did at least land her cramped odds. O'Brien's Order Of St George was famously beaten at 1/7 in the 2016 Irish Leger, a race that Yeats also got beaten in at 2/7 in 2006. In the end Australia's record 1/8 price when landing the 2014 Curragh Derby was unchallenged and his awkwardly named daughter, Wemightakedlongway, momentarily underlined the dangers of betting very short. Having narrowly beaten her stable companion Whirl at Epsom, the charitable take on Saturday's double display was that Minnie Hauk might not do it prettily but does consistently pull off the all-important feat of winning. Moore said he was never worried, although Browne McMonagle's tactical shift appeared to be a surprise. 'I just had to wake her up to get past Dylan, a little bit like at the Oaks at Epsom. She'd be quite deceptive. She's become more professional and at least we've learned a little bit more about her today. 'There's probably no doubt that it was a weak running of an Oaks. I'm happy with her and I'm sure she is going to go on to better things as well. 'When I asked her, she switched her lead and went and done it. At Chester at the start of the year she only won by a length, she just timed herself. When she got to the front at Epsom, she went asleep on me again. We are learning about her, and she'll be better than this,' reassured the English rider. Ryan Moore on Minnie Hauk win The Juddmonte Irish Oaks (Group 1). Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho O'Brien quickly added that the best of the €1.85 million 2023 Orby sales-topper won't be seen until she gets a very high race tempo to target. Afterwards, the Ballydoyle brains trust debated a potential route towards October's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, with either the Yorkshire Oaks or the Prix Vermeille apparently to the fore as possible trials. 'The boss (John Magnier) asked Ryan where to go with her and he said to go to the Yorkshire Oaks. The boss said 'what about if we give her a break and train her for the Vermeille and give her a French Arc prep?' All those things are open, and we'll see how she is. 'I think she can do either of those things but if she's going to the French trial she'd have to have a couple of easy weeks. Obviously if she's going to York she wouldn't have those couple of easy weeks,' O'Brien commented. The immediate dividend though was a seventh classic of the year for the trainer and an 11th Group One success in all. Having briefly threatened to spoil the short-priced Oaks party, Dylan Browne McMonagle later hit the mark on his own odds-on favourite Al Riffa in the Group Two Curragh Cup. The dual-Group One winner made light of the step up to 14-furlongs and quickened past inferior rivals to set up a tilt at the Irish Leger in September. Joseph O'Brien , twice a Melbourne Cup winner, didn't rule out a tilt at the Flemington highlight either with a colt who was classy enough to land a National Stakes as a two-year-old. Proud of Wemighttakedlongway's classic effort – 'Minnie Hauk is a champion, and we gave her a fright for a few seconds' – O'Brien is also eyeing a profitable autumn with Al Riffa. Earlier on the classic programme, True Love's 1-2 odds were comparatively generous when she made no mistake in kicking right away from three colts in the Group Two Gain Railway Stakes. The Queen Mary winner had no trouble stepping up a furlong and proved five lengths too good for her stable companion Puerto Rico. Ryan Moore on True Love wins The GAIN Railway Stakes (Group 2) at the Curragh. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Having proven her credentials for the trip, O'Brien nominated potential targets in the Phoenix Stakes back at HQ, Deauville for the Prix Morny, and Newmarket's Cheveley Park Stakes. True Love was the first filly to win the Railway in 27 years and having successfully led the Ballydoyle juvenile bandwagon here may end up taking on colts again later this campaign. O'Brien indicated his exciting Albert Einstein 'probably' won't run again this season. That leaves the Coventry winner Gstaad – who beat True Love in his maiden – as his most likely top colt to go to war with later this summer. As well as the Phoenix and the Morny, Gstaad's ambitions could also see him aimed at seven-furlong contests in the National Stakes and the Dewhurst. However, the dangers of planning too far ahead also got underlined on Saturday when O'Brien revealed doubts about last year's champion juvenile filly Lake Victoria even racing again. Out of action since landing the Irish Guineas in May, he said: 'She is not back in exercise yet. She's doing very well physically, but she's not back in work yet. 'John (Halley, vet) will make the decision on whether she comes back into work for this year or is left alone until next year, or is retired altogether. They'll be decisions that will be made as weeks go by.' O'Brien opened Saturday's card with a 1-2-3 in the juvenile maiden where the odds-on New Zealand won by a nose from the eye-catching newcomer Isaac Newton. The sprinting division is often Irish racing's poor relation but there could be a real top-notcher in Ireland for a change as Arizona Blaze continued his progress up the ranks and landed the Group Two Barberstown Cstle Sapphire Stakes. Runner up in Royal Ascot's Commonwealth Cup, and at last year's Breeders' Cup, the AMO Racing colt dropped to the minimum distance and proved too quick for the English raider Mgheera. David Egan, whose sister Alexandra rode her first winner at Down Royal on Friday evening, dominated from the front on the winner and a potential tilt at York's Nunthorpe next month could be another shot at a top-level success. AMO's big-spending owner Kia Joorabchian was present at the Curragh to watch the colt and expressed confidence that a top-flight victory is within Arizona Blaze's grasp. 'He's been professional all the way. He loves five and can go six and seven. He loves the five furlongs and hopefully we'll have a lot more fun with him,' he said. 'I think we'll aim for the Breeders' Cup. I think he'll get a Group 1 somewhere.'
