BRIAN Flanagan says Kildare’s Tailteann Cup success, catapulting them into the 2026 All-Ireland SFC race, is just the beginning.
The Lilywhites held off Limerick at the end of a Croke Park roller coaster to secure their first piece of significant silverware since 2012.
Darragh Kirwan was their main man with 0-8 and was named Man of the Match.
Alex Beirne had a big game too with 1-2 while sub Brian McLoughlin had the same sort of impact as he did in the semi-final, blasting three crucial points.
There were big displays as well from captain Kevin Feely and Ryan Sinkey as Kildare finally won a trophy at Croke Park.
They were beaten there in the Division 3 final earlier this year and had won just eight of their 28 Championship games at Croker since the 2010 All-Ireland semi-final.
Things bottomed out badly for Kildare under former boss Glenn Ryan but Flanagan has picked up the pieces impressively – guiding Kildare back to Division 2 as well as the Sam Maguire Cup race.
There were a few nervous moments late on as Limerick got the gap down to three points and chased a goal to force extra-time.
But sub Rory O’Brien’s shot after the siren had sounded deflected over for a point – instead of the goal required to force extra-time.
Flanagan said it’s the start of something big for a Kildare group full of former U-20 stars.
The Kildare manager said: “We have a really united panel, a really ambitious panel and one that sees this as just the start of something.
“This isn’t the end by any means of anything – it is just purely the beginning. It is year one of what we hope will be four or maybe more.
“Winning was so, so important, and lifting silverware, so that you had in your mentality, so you had it in your psyche going forward because there’s much bigger challenges that lie ahead for us.
“We’re going to Division 2 next year and we now have Sam Maguire Cup football nailed on.
“What this year has done is proven that we deserve to be there. We’ve earned our spot in both of them. And we didn’t get it easy, we had to beat the best teams.”
TREATY REGRETS
Limerick manager Jimmy Lee insisted that he has no regrets about how things turned out. He said he was simply proud of his side’s brave bid to be the first Division 4 team to win the title.
But when he looks back on this game he will realise that favourites Kildare were there for the taking.
Limerick had plenty of periods of dominance, opening up a 1-3 to 0-3 lead initially and they enjoyed a strong third quarter to lead by two with 20 minutes to go.
Even when Kildare hit the afterburners with eight points between the 55th and 64th minutes, the Munster side refused to relent.
But they couldn’t turn the screw and will rue the 10 wides they kicked, as well as goal chances for Cillian Fahy and Murray late on that were saved.
Captain Fahy did at least hit the net early on, helping Limerick open up that three-point lead. They fell into Kildare’s slipstream for a spell after that as the Leinster semi-finalists moved 1-10 to 1-3 ahead.
Beirne sniped Kildare’s goal in the 14th minute after his team won the Limerick kick-out, setting him free to play a clever one-two before netting.
Limerick’s fightback late in the first-half was impressive and they got it back to a four-point game at the interval, 1-13 to 1-9.
PURPLE PATCH
Lee’s crew were at their best in the third quarter, outscoring Kilare by 1-6 to 0-3 between half-time and the 48th minute.
Tony McCarthy scored back-to-back Limerick points, Josh Ryan nailed a two-pointer and Killian Ryan rifled in their second goal – opening up a 2-15 to 1-16 Limerick lead.
Their fans dared to dream of a landmark win but they were powerless to prevent that second coming from Kildare in the final 20 minutes.
McLoughlin was unfortunate not to start after killing off Fermanagh with five points when he climbed off the bench in the semi-final.
And he did something similar again after coming on for Kildare here, scoring a two-pointer and then a single to help wrestle the momentum their way.
Kirwan, Colm Dalton and Tommy Gill added vital late points too.
Kildare: C Burke; B Byrne, R Burke, H O’Neill; T Gill 0-1, D Hyland, J McGrath; K Feely 0-2, 1f, B Gibbons; C Bolton 0-2, tp, D Kirwan 0-8, 2 tp, C Dalton 0-2; R Sinkey 0-3, A Beirne 1-2, D Flynn 0-1.
Subs: J McKevitt for McGrath 43, B McLoughlin 0-3, 1 tp for Gibbons 43, E Cully for Flynn 47, M O’Grady for Burke 66.
Limerick: J Ryan 0-3, 1 tpf, 1 45; J Hassett, D O’Doherty, M McCarthy; K Ryan 1-1, I Corbett 0-1, T McCarthy 0-3; T Childs 0-1, D O’Hagan; P Maher, C Fahy 1-1, Neville 0-1; E Rigter 0-2, J Naughton 0-2, 2f, P Nash 0-3, 1f.
Subs: B Coleman for Childs 16-20, blood, D Murray for O’Hagan 43, Coleman for Maher 47, R Childs for Rigter 55, T O Siochru for Corbett 61, R O’Brien 0-1 for T Childs 66.
Ref: L Devenney (Mayo).
