Kildare County highlights

Well there is plenty being said about the club over the last week but most of it negative so just one last time, what was your highlight of supporting the club?

The game that always sticks out for me was the final game of the first season in Monaghan. We needed to win by 4 goals and for Cobh to not win in their game to reach the promotion play offs. John Ryan scored a last minute peno to put us 4 up and when the final whistle blew, it looked like we were in the play offs but just seconds later it emerged that Willie Bruton had scored a 96th minute winner for Cobh to put them in the play offs instead. Who knows where the club would be now if he hadn't scored that goal. The support we had that day was amazing.

Of course there was the cup victory at Dalymount Park against Bohs when Shay Zeller scored the only goal of the game, an amazing result when you think about it.

Shay was number of players who made watching county really worthwhile. Wayne Russell, Damian Brennan, Ben Whelahan, the three philly's Byrne, Gorman and Hughes, Ger O'Brien, Ray Kenny, Ray Scully, Martin Reilly, Barry O'Connor, Cathal O'Connor and many many more.

There were some great goals, Peter Rogers scored from inside his own half against Cobh, Marc Kenny scored a stunning goal down in Limerick on the last day of the 2003 season and also a memorable free kick against Dublin. I remember a brilliant free kick by Stephen Cooling in Bray in an FAI Cup tie. and also rememeber Mikey McCann scoring a brilliant last minute winner in Ballybofey during our first season to beat Finn Harps.

In the early years, the club was a completely different proposition to what it became in the last couple of seasons and I still firmly believe that had Dermot Keely stayed in charge of the club instead of leaving for Derry in 2003 that we would have won promotion to the Premier Division that season. We were top when he left and had the best squad of players in the division but things didn't work out once Eric Hannigan took over, looking back now it's clear to see that the club was slowly dying ever since Dermot left.

There was certainly never the same buzz about the place after jumped ship.

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride during the 7 years but it's fair to say that we haven't had much to cheer about in the last couple of seasons but that doesn't meant what the club has done should be discounted. Numerous local Kildare players who would never have got near the league otherwise have played in the League of Ireland and they should be very grateful to the club for that. I hope somebday that there is another club in the area to fulfil the void.

It was a great club for bringing a small band of people together and turning them into friends and I am sure that a number of the supporters club have made friends for life because of the club.

The club has been a huge part of my life for 7 years, I've worked for the club, reported on them and supported them as a fan. My weekends were planned around the game and Kildare County reignited my interest in the League of Ireland. It's hard to believe that it's all come to an end but the memories will live on for a long time to come.

Ger

Brilliant post Ger, really brings back some memories.

Unfortunately, I didn't begin to support the club untill Eric Hannigans reign so I missed the majority of the obvious highlights that many fans will say, my first game being County losing 2-1 to Monaghan United on the 12th of June 2004(could be wrong), think Martin Reilly scored a penalty for us that day. I remember back then the ground was fairly full at the time, would have said around 500 people looked to be the regular attendance back then, shame how the support died out so much.

Beating Bohs away was obviously my favourite result in supporting the club, dont come much sweeter than that. One thing I am raging about however is that I was sitting in the stand behind the goal instead of amongst all the other County fans in the main stand that day:( I imagine that would have made it a lot more enjoyable when he ran over to the fans. Other great matchs I can remember off the top of my head was that 2-2 (?) draw in Tolka Park in Shels 1st game when they got relegated, beating Dundalk 3-1 in Station Road around 2007, we had a few crackers v Athlone down in Station road over the years.

But my own personal highlights during the years was when myself and a few others attempted to get a few making some noise at games, "the county colts" which would have been at its prime in about 2006 or 07, in retrospect, we probably were extremely annoying to listen to if you were another fan but we genuinely did feel like we gave the players an extra lift even if only marginal, it made the games a lot more enjoyable for us also looking forward to them all week and then heading down to Station road ridiculously early prior to games to set up the flags etc, we had a strong 30 singing at matchs usually which was an impressive achievement if you dont mind me saying so! Then last season, although it was probably my most emotional game as a County fan, the play-off v Mervue at home gave me a warm feeling on the inside when the amount of young fans were there chanting, how many were there that day? Id say about 60/70 roughly, but that made me feel extremely proud that day.

Oh and better give a mention to when Dundalk won the league last season on the last day, I know it was a terrible day for County having lost 7-0, but I have never in my life seen anything better than when Dundalk fans and players were crying walking off the pitch having thought Shels had beaten Limerick, then I just remember one fan out of the hundreds of them there roaring at the top of his voice, Limerick had scored and Dundalk had won the league. Unbelievable scenes then followed.

The thing I'll miss most about the club however is how real it felt, they genuinely appreciated every single one of us as supporters. We all helped out with the club over the years on many occasions and the fact that we were just so part of it is what I'll miss. I had done work experience with the club, done stewarding, wrote articles for the programme, ballboyed, made many friends out of following them too. Memories to last a lifetime.

Hopefully we will be back in some shape or form in the future and untill that day comes I will always not feel quite the same supporting another football team.

Thank you Kildare County and everyone who has helped out the club over the years.

Like Kildare lad I only started following Kildare from the Hannigan era and from the first game up in Monaghan where Martin Reilly was credited with Robbie Griffin's goal, we barely missed a match. Following the club around the country not only gave great memories on the pitch but off it as well, we got to see places from the Ailwee Caves in Claire to a big cliff in Donegal (can't think of the name) and the trip to Wexford was always a class weekend away.

I think even in the short space of time I followed the club I find it hard to condense all the highlights into a post that doesn't mean I'll be typing all night but I'll try to give it a go.

Obviously the affore mentioned game against Monaghan will stand out in my mind since it was my first ever glimpse of what was to pretty much take over the weekends for the next 5 years of my life.

The rest of that season seemed to pass by in a blur (maybe it's because it's not documented on camera though) but I will always remember heading down to Galway knowing that a massive haul against them and Bray slipping up against Monaghan would see us up and at half time we were 4-0 up and had word that Monaghan were 2 up as well, so we thought that we might do it. But of course Monaghan weren't 2 up Aertel had gotten it backwards and it was Bray that was winning.

Stephen Cooling will always be remembered for his goals, the most famous probably the one against Bray in the FAI cup, but I will remember him for his little known screamer down in Limerick where he skipped past two players to drive the ball from 40 odd yards which bounced of the underside of the cross bar, hit the line, hit the cross bar again and then hit the back of the net.

Of course buying the camera down in Galway will be a massive memory for me and Kildare County and editing up the games and in particular making the end of season videos for 2007. Gathering all the clips together and trying to work out which song would we use for each player was brilliant craic.

There is countless matches that will stand out in my mind for either good, bad or bizare reasons. My favourite wins aren't those during Hanigans era but I think it is the first win of each season where we weren't any good, like when we beat Monaghan 4-0 or becoming the first team to beat Athlone in Lissey wollen with a brace from Padraig Amond. But I think this years one will always be the top 1. I have witnessed 3 hat-tricks at my time in the club Barry O'Conner v Glebe North, Kilduff v Fanad but the Mervue victory had the best and my favourite one from Dean "Diego Forlan" Barrett, a player never to play a full 90 minutes during the two stints he spent at the club. We hadn't won since God knows when and up steps the unlikly hero to send the 15 strong band of Kildare fans into raptures below in Terryland.

The win down in Wexford this season in the lashing rain will never be forgot either, I had spent the night before in a pub in Wicklow watching my mates that I hadn't seen in months sing on stage and then the day before in Wexford with another friend that I hadn't seen in ages either (she even proceded to go the match with me, but the weather got the better of here and she left at half-time). Then to round the weekend up with a 3-0 win with three fantastic goals (two from Hughes and 1 from Trev) given the weather they were probably the best goals ever to be scored.

The play-off against Mervue will go down as the strangest game I have ever attended. The teams ran out and we were wearing the mervue strip, a dog proceded to run onto the pitch and stop play for a good 10 minutes. Half-time was then approaching and all the fans would be wanting some tea so they turned on their big kettles, which caused a power cut and left us all in the dark for another good 10/15 minutes.

There are of course all the others that have been mentioned like the Bohs game, or just being beaten by Derry in the closing minutes in the Brandywell aslo, but I thought I'd throw in some that I thought may not be others memories.

The one thing I will never forget is how the sinking feeling that I got after every match that we lost turn, as the week went on and we approach another match, into hope and optimism that this would be the week that we could turn the season around and we would be saved. Depsite how bad things were going I don't think I ever really gave up hope on us getting points against anyway that we played

I literally don't have a clue what I will do with my weekends now, but I hope to see another club back in the league at some stage so we can all stand in the terraces again and cheer on the lads

Or returning home on the bus from Whitehall Home Farms ground after beating Dublin City 1-0. An injured Marc Kenny controlled midfield whilst Ray Kenny scored the late winner. Singing "we are top of the league".

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Originally Posted by Kildareman

Or returning home on the bus from Whitehall Home Farms ground after beating Dublin City 1-0. An injured Marc Kenny controlled midfield whilst Ray Kenny scored the late winner. Singing "we are top of the league".

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I remember that game well, Wayne Russell made a couple of wonder saves if I remember correctly!!

From the official website:

Dublin City 0 Kildare County 1

Even at this early stage of the season this was a tense occasion with both sides sights already on a play off position at least. It was also the first occasion that Dermot Keely had faced John Gill. Gill has transformed Dublin City in the shot time that he has been at Whitehall and Dublin City will be one of the hardest teams in the divison to beat.

After Dermot Keely was able to rest some of his more established players in the League Cup during the week, the Kildare County team showed four changes skipper Ben Whelehan, Barry O’Connor, Philip Hughes and Alan McNevin all returned to the starting line up

The early stages of this game and indeed the first half were a very tight affair with some very hefty challenges in the midfield area. Although this game may not quite have rivalry that it enjoys in other codes, there can be no doubt that both sides gave everything they had and more in an attempt to gain the three points and indeed there were times when the game threatened to boil over to something more sinister.

Philip Hughes has the first real chance of the game when he latched onto to Shay Zeller’s through ball, he showed great strength to shrug off Thomas McAuley but he pulled his shot wide.

A combination of a heavy pre-match shower and the superb playing surface at Whitehall mean that this game zipped along at a great pace, a real Dublin and Kildare derby.

Kildare thought they had broken the deadlock six minutes before the interval. A well worked free kick between Shay Zeller and Alan McNevin released Philip Hughes, his shot rebounded off the post and Richie Purdy was on hand to bundle the ball into the net. Kildare celebrations were short lived however as the referee and assistant referee signalled that Purdy had used his hand. Kildare’s protests fell on deaf ears.

The second half was played at an even faster pace than the first. Kildare had most of the possession but Dublin City were very solid in defence and always looked dangerous on the break.

Russell made the first of his of stunning saves in the 66th minute. Trevor Gleeson hit a long range free kick that really needed Russell to be at his best to keep out. His next save was even better and drew gasps of admiration from the sizeable travelling Kildare support. Robbie Clarke floated a free kick in from the left and McGauley arrived at the back post, his header was powerful and downward but somehow Russell was able to push it over the bar. It is in a tight game like this that a goalkeeper proves his worth and the Welshman showed just how vital he will be in Kildare’s promotion push.

Dublin City almost took the lead in the 77th minute. Kildare over committed in an attack and Dublin broke very quickly, the ball was worked out to Dunne, his cross was inch perfect but O’Keefe couldn’t believe his luck when his header clipped the bar and went over.

Just when it looked like the game was going to finish in a goalless draw Kildare struck. Alan Kelly’s free kick from the left found Riche Purdy at the back post, Purdy did superbly to head the ball back across the goal and Ray Kenny came flying in at the back post to slam the ball into the net for his first goal in Kildare colours. With just five minutes left on the clock there was nothing that Dublin City could do. Despite the referee playing an additional five minutes injury time, Kildare were able to hold on.

Aside from Russell, Kildare had superb performers in every area of the pitch but Richie Purdy in particular was superb. He won everything and his timing and reading of the game are impeccable. His central defensive partner, Alan Keely, again caught the eye while Ben Whelehan and Alan McNevin impressed in midfield.

The result moves Kildare County to the top of the table due in no small part to ex player Mikey McCann grabbing two goals as Athlone beat Bray 2-0.

Dermot Keely was delighted with the result, “This is a really tough place to come, there won’t be many teams that will win here so yes I am very happy. The game was played at a fantastic pace and it showed the fitness levels of the players on both teams. Wayne made some fantastic saves but I always felt that we might be able to nick a goal at the other end and thankfully Ray popped right at the end. Dublin were very well organised, they really are a credit to John Gill.” Despite the result Keely was unimpressed by moving to the top of the table, “You get nothing for being top of the table at this stage, if we are top of the table in November I will be happy.”

Man of the match Wayne Russell was equally happy, “It was hard going out there, they are a tough team and there were some ferocious tackles flying in all over the place. At times we were under a bit of pressure but thankfully we were able to keep them and Ray got a great goal right at the end.” When asked about his wonder saves, Russell is overly modest, “That’s what I’m there for, the second save was pretty instinctive, it was so quick. I’m just happy to have played my part in what was a fantastic win.

Kildare County: Russell, Brennan, Hutchison, Purdy, Keely, Kenny, Zeller, Whelehan (Scully 90), Hughes (Kelly 64) B O’Connor, McNevin (Britton 81).
Subs not used: Murphy, C O’Connor.

Dublin City: Horgan, T O’Connor, Byrne, McGauley, Noonan, Crowley, Gleeson, Dunne (Farrell 86), O’Keefe, A O’Connor, Clarke.
Subs not used: Ross, Burke, Dunning, Kennedy.

Hi guys,

As a previous player i am gutted at what has happened at station road. I played for the club for 4 years and made some great friends and met some lovely people during my time. Id just like to thank everyone who made my time at the club so enjoyable and hope one day that Kildare County will be back and all of you will be back involved because everyone who was involved at the club worked so hard to keep it goin. I have some great memories at the club and i suppose anyone who played in Dalymount that night would have to put that as their number 1 memory and im no different, pity Derry ruined our dream in the next round!!
Good luck to all of you and thank you for all your hard work and support during my time at the club.
Philip Byrne

Thanks Phil. I remember your Dad bringing you for your trial in Straffan many years ago.

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Originally Posted by christo

I have witnessed 3 hat-tricks at my time in the club Barry O'Conner v Glebe North, Kilduff v Fanad but the Mervue victory had the best and my favourite one from Dean "Diego Forlan" Barrett, a player never to play a full 90 minutes during the two stints he spent at the club. We hadn't won since God knows when and up steps the unlikly hero to send the 15 strong band of Kildare fans into raptures below in Terryland.

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My mistake, I believe Brendon Markey scored a hat-trick against Dublin City in a friendly one year as well