KILDARE MANAGER KIERAN McGeeney admits his team were well below-par at Croke Park on Sunday.
Meath upset the odds to overcome the Lilywhites 1-17 to 1-11 in the first of two Leinster SFC semi-finals at GAA HQ and McGeeney was quick to concede that Kildare didn’t turn up on the day.
“It’s very disappointing but that’s championship football and when you play below what you are capable of doing someone is going to make you pay,” McGeeney said.
“A lot of our key players didn’t play to their potential and you have to give Meath credit for stopping those. Even when we were on top we had good chances and when we went down to 14 men we could have pegged a few back but didn’t. Meath then got a run on us when we were pushing men forward.”
Referee Michael Collins showed Kildare midfielder Daryl Flynn a second yellow card on 52 minutes for pulling on the ball as Damien Carroll attempted to pick it and, on the sending off, McGeeney added:
Me and refs go back a long way. They make the decisions and they always find a way of being right so it is what it is.”
Kildare will now play Cavan in Round 2 of the All-Ireland qualifiers while Meath go on to face Dublin in the Leinster final.
