By Patrick Sharkey,
GAA Zone Podcast Episode 60: Kildare Football Season Review 2023 – The GAA Zone podcast
Get ready for an exhilarating ride as we celebrate our 60th episode of the GAA Zone Podcast! In this special instalment, we’re diving deep into the heart of Gaelic football with a comprehensive review.
Kevin Feeley’s deep knowledge and genuine love for the game shine through as we relive the moments that defined Kildare’s season. The Kildare senior footballer started by talking about a narrow loss to Dublin saying: “The lads put in a great performance in fairness yeah ehm it was probably as well as we’ve played against Dublin in recent times anyway ehm and it you know felt like we had them you know we had beatings of them. We were kind of two or three points up for most of the game.”
Mr. Feeley added:” Ehm but I think I don’t know whether it was a lack of belief or whether they just kind of is shooting efficiency. We got a bit panicky and kind of shooting from the wrong areas in the last few minutes. Whereas the Dublin were patient and kind of worked the ball into guaranteed scoring zones. Eh and if you kind of looked at the shooting percentages for the last 20 minutes of the game. Dublin was a lot more efficient. Ehm in towards the end of the game but eh you know it was it was encouraging at the time that we eh that we kind of played as well as we did and we came so close to beating Dublin in Leinster but ehm in hindsight it was probably Dublin were only just getting going really at that point of the season. They hadn’t eh they hadn’t really turned on their peak performance just yet and were probably timing their run for a little bit later in the year. Ehm given how little kind of importance the provincials have now these days you know. “Traditional Unionist Voice councillor Allister Kyle believes there is an “ongoing agenda by the BBC to divert funding from as many different areas as possible towards GAA”. In instruction, the TUV councillor for the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough was critical of a decision to axe The Irish League Show from the BBC schedule. The semi-hour show carried highlights from the Irish Premiership. Kyle said this decision was “all the more bizarre” considering the BBC had live broadcasts from both All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals. A week prior, the BBC also had live coverage from both hurling semi-finals. “I am deeply disappointed that the Irish League show has been cut by the BBC,” told Kyle, who is also a director of Coleraine FC. As an avid Irish league fan, I always enjoyed watching our local presenter’s comments on the highlights of the local game throughout the province. Year after year this coverage has been cut from a Final Score programme showing the goals at 5.30pm on Saturday night and an in-depth analysis on the Monday evening to a late-night programme held on BBC2. We now find that the BBC has axed the programme completely. Engagement with the Irish League has been growing year on year with spectators and interest rising through the hard work of the clubs themselves and new initiatives organised by NIFL, the League’s governing body. This would make one think that the BBC as a publicly funded broadcaster would be increasing their coverage of the brand that is Northern Irish football. The interest in the Irish League extends”.
What was your standout moment from Kildare’s football season this year? Feely mentioned the game against Sligo saying:” Um no, it was an element of them catching us by surprise. Well, I thought Niall not in that they caught us by surprise. We had all the kind of tape, and we’d watch to them.”
Kevin added: “They were games and they have done very well and they kind of comfortably won division four. And you know had had a decent kind of campaign as well, but you know as much as they are a good team and played very well ehm you know we were we were never we played so far within ourselves in that game eh it was extremely disappointing like you know we never got going at all.”
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