Kildare manager Jason Ryan blames ‘switching off’ for sensational Down loss

What a smash and grab

Jason Ryan is normally one of the most positive GAA men around and is always trying to see the good in the bad, but he'll have a hard time trying to pick through the bones of today's loss to Down in Division Two of the Allianz league in Newbridge Kildare left two precious points slip from their grasp after 90 seconds of madness at the end of the game in St Conleth's Park, as they looked set for an opening day win in front of a sizable crowd. Down trailed by 1-15 to 1-12 approaching 69 minutes when a hopeful ball into the square by Paul Devlin rebounded off the crossbar and there was Arthur McConville to fist it to the net. Even with the sides level Kildare still at least had a point to show for their efforts, until from the resulting kickout Paul Devlin snatched the ball and shot over an angled point from 40metres to give Down the lead. If Kildare supporters were stunned as to the last gasp events of the concession of a three point lead, then their day was about to get a whole lot worse, as Donal O'Hare plundered a third goal after a flowing move from midfield to secure a four point win by 3-13 to 1-15. Ryan was downbeat after the game-admitting his side lost their concentration in the final moments,

'A lot happened but a lot happened where Down punished us. We switched off and we weren't as clued in as we needed to be and its disappointing.'

Kildare had largely frustrated Down throughout the contest and led by 1-7 to 0-9 at half time,their goal scored by Niall Kelly. However Lilywhite fans will feel that the failure to score a penalty after 48 minutes,when sub goalkeeper Stephen Kane,who replaced the blackcarded Michael Cunningham,stopped the effort of Padraig Fogarty crucial in their defeat. When asked about how his side often had 14 men behind the ball he admitted that the defensive system is something his side will need to look at

 'We lost so it didn't work that well. There was a lot of moments where we were quite happy with things but you're judged on wins and losses and that was a loss so we have to go back to the drawing board and look at certain things again.'

The Down manager  Jim McCorry's mood was in stark contrast to that of the former Wexford coach. He was happy with how his side persevered against the Kildare blanket system :

'A big physical Kildare side and they set up very defensive and  it was very hard to break down. But we knew that as we'd seen how they had set up against Dublin in the O'Byrne cup last week.'

The crucial penalty miss 13 minutes into the second half was for McCorry the game's biggest turning point. If converted it would have left Down with a mountain to climb but McCorry felt his side responded well to the save from Kane

'Games can obviously change on a decision but I don't think there was any doubt about the penalty of the black card. But for our goalkeeper to come on and to make a save like that was inspirational to the rest of the team and they knew they were still in it. It gave us a big lift again and if you talk about pivotal moments then that was it today. I think the scoreline may be bit deceptive but I think we thoroughly deserved the win.'

McCorry was delighted with how his side went to the very final whistle as he revealed that the Mourne County men haven't done too much preparation so far in 2015 ahead of the league

'Even before the goals went in we were still battling forward and even from the from the 60th minute and into the final minutes we were still driving the game forward. Once the goal went in we just took off and the lift of the goal going in and it seemed to give a wee spurt of adrenalin to the lads. I don't know where that came from because we haven't done an awful lot of work with the McKenna cup starting we'd short window of time.'

Kildare fans were not too pleased with the manner of their sides collapse judging by some angry tweets after the game

@Ciaranodowd The Kildare team that started today had no one from either of the Newbridge clubs that contested the County Final. They lost... — Ciaran McMonagle (@CiaranMcMonagle) February 1, 2015

Fair play to Kildare for continuing to find stupid ways to lose football matches. Today's effort will take some beating though. — Liam Behan (@lbehan86) February 1, 2015

@SportsJOEdotie #same old shit following Kildare . Let down as usuall, they all went to sleep . F###### annoyed — Alan connolly (@lillywhite1970) February 1, 2015

@NeadyCillDara “Why won't Kildare manager Jason Ryan let his players have dogs ? Because they can't hold onto leads wha wha wha #GAA” — Jerry Burke (@BurkeJerryM) February 1, 2015