ATHYLAND

Kildare veteran knew club were on the brink of glory

- BY PAUL KEANE

DAVID Hyland reckons it was Athy's time to make their mark on the Kildare SFC again.

The Kildare star captained his club to a long odds county title success at five-in-a-row chasing Naas' expense.

Dig a little deeper and it may not have been such a surprise after all.

Next to Hyland at midfield was Kevin Feely, who captained Kildare to this year's Tailteann Cup title.

Athy wing-back James McGrath, like Feely, made the Tailteann Cup team of the year too, while Niall Kelly is another county stalwart in attack.

Then there's former Tyrone star Cathal McCarron, who lorded it at centre-back in Sunday's final, pinching three points.

Perhaps the real surprise was that Athy didn't stop Naas sooner and that they'd only won one title in the previous 13 seasons?

Hyland nodded: "Probably. I remember we played Celbridge two years ago and we got beaten in that semi-final narrowly enough. Celbridge had 95 per cent shooting efficiency that day. When is a team ever going to have 95 per cent shooting efficiency! And yet we only got beaten narrowly.