RTÉ GAA analyst Ciarán Whelan has said the questions continue to mount around Kildare following their less than impressive All-Ireland Group 3 draw with Sligo on Sunday.
Glenn Ryan's side conceded the last three points in the 0-14 to 0-14 draw, and former Dublin star Whelan said that the Lilywhites’ ability to match their opponents – for better or worse – leaves a real enigmatic feel hanging over the team.
"Kildare, that lack of consistency and those question marks – they're the type of team that....there’s just so many unknowns about them," Whelan told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
"They can raise their performance when they’re the underdogs but when they’re playing against a team that’s allegedly at a lower level, they drop their performance to that level.
"Even if you go back to last year, they beat Dublin in the league and they kind of got a step too far ahead of themselves and then got landed on their backsides in the Leinster final.
.@whelo35 on Kildare's inconsistency and the possibilty of the Lilywhites and Sligo advancing to the next stage of the All-Ireland championship with just one point #rtegaapodcast #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/xyqJuR05q5
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) May 22, 2023
"Maybe there was a little touch of complacency following the performance against Dublin [Leinster semi-final], thinking 'yeah, we’re going to go down here and we’re at a different level here.’ They dropped to that level.
"It’s pretty poor from Kildare in terms of the quality of players that they have. You would expect a lot better."
While keen to pick at Kildare's faults, Whelan said that it was important to also recognise the character shown by Sligo at Markievicz Park, and he now sees a potential route to the preliminary quarter-finals opening up.
"You can’t take away from Sligo’s performance and what Tony McEntee has done," he said.
"You’re going into these qualifiers and you’re doing okay, New York, London, a hammering off Galway, top of Division 4 and you’re really seeing what level they are at.
Sligo fought back to earn a hard-earned draw against Kildare
"That performance yesterday is going to give them a massive boost. They probably should have won the game.
"The interesting dynamic here is, just thinking about it this morning, if Dublin beat Roscommon and Dublin beat Kildare, it could come down to score difference between these two – if Roscommon were to beat Kildare.
"Dublin could be playing Sligo in the third game already topping the group possibly, if they’ve four points and they’ve beaten the other two on the head-to-head. Dessie Farrell could use that opportunity to run his bench and score difference could come into it.
"This one could get very interesting if the results go to form in the next few games.
"It’s a massive result for Sligo and you could have that dynamic where a team with a draw might get through without winning a game."
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