Meath manager Colm O'Rourke has called on the Kildare GAA community to rally around their management team as the pressure continues to build for Glenn Ryan, Anthony Rainbow and Johnny Doyle.
And it was O'Rourke's Royals who pushed the Lilywhites closer to relegation from Division 2 this afternoon after a three-point win in the All-Leinster clash at Navan.
Kildare were ahead inside the last 10 minutes but Meath managed the last four scores to win on a 0-12 to 0-09 scoreline, a defeat that leaves Ryan's side without any points after four games.
Victory for the Royals, who have already secured Sam Maguire status for 2024 as Tailteann Cup champions, leaves them just two points off joint leaders Donegal and Armagh.
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Speaking on RTÉ's Sunday Sport after the game O'Rourke, who embraced Ryan at the end of the game, was quick to defend the current Kildare management team.
"I said I felt sorry for him," he said of their conversation on the sideline.
"I had Glenn with an international rules team I was in charge of in 1999 and 2000, and he was just a wonderful player for Kildare, a wonderful representative of our country.
"I know Glenn very well. I find him an outstanding young man - and he's still young - and I'm sorry [how] management has gone for him and Anthony Rainbow and Johnny Doyle.
"They're the best of men. It's a time for people in Kildare, the county board and the players particularly to show a bit of loyalty to some of their greatest warriors."
On his own side O'Rourke was happy that the narrative around the team has changed, after picking up two wins in eight days to turn their campaign around.
"We had one point from our first two games, now we have five from four [games] - it's a different landscape completely.
"It took a lot of patience. At times it looked as if Kildare could snatch it. They had a dominant spell in the middle of the second half.
"The satisfying aspect from our point of view last Sunday and this Sunday is that we showed great fighting spirit in the second half.
"If we could get another point or two on the board, at least we'd be safe in the second division. The fact that we're guaranteed our place in the All-Ireland series means that we can take a more more long-term approach."
