Football the big loser as Lilies fall to Fermanagh

It's a long way to go for nothing but that is exactly what Kildare gained from their Saturday night's sojourn to the home territory of one Arlene Foster.
No sign of the Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, she obviously just attends the big games, very disappointing really, but it certainly was not the only disappointment of the evening.

Earlier last week Croke Park figures showed a fall in attendances and income in the 2018 Championship, despite the introduction of the Super 8s; there was an alarming drop of some €4.8 million in revenue from games, as attendances fell by an extremely worrying 18 per cent.

There is little doubt that Croke Park saw this coming down the line, thus the proposed rule changes in football; four of which are presently being experimented with, the fifth, and probably the most controversial, the three hand-pass rule, was rejected, after the Central Council caved into pressure from the GPA, county managers and the referees body (despite top official Maurice Deegan suggesting earlier there would be no problem for referees if the rules were all adopted).

However after last weekend's clash between Kildare and Fermanagh, when everything that is dire in present day football was on view from start to finish, maybe they should take another look at the rules.

At times Fermanagh had no less that 15, yes 15, players inside their own 45 metre line.

It was the kind of performance that, if repeated country-wide, will see attendances fall even further and gate receipts decrease, despite the hike in ticket prices.

The GAA could do a lot worse than sit down the members of the Central Council who voted not to introduce the proposed three hand pass rule and let them endure what supporters had to endure last weekend, and while there is no guarantee that if the hand-pass rule had been in vogue, things would have been very different, but it is certainly worth a proper trial.

Having said that what Fermanagh do they do it well; in fact they do it exceptionally well. It ain't pretty but they have a game plan, they stick to it; they work their socks off for the entire game and even more worrying, believe in their methods.
Did they deserve to win?
Most certainly did.
But that was as much down to the incompetence of Kildare, who it has to be said, were fully aware of what to expect on the day
Talking to Kildare manager Cian O'Neill after the Cork game the previous week and the defensive methods The Rebels employed, the Kildare manager remarked “if you think that was bad wait until next weekend when we go to Fermanagh.”
How right he was.
But the real worry here is that despite being fully aware of what to expect, Kildare, just like against Carlow in last season's championship, seemed bereft of ideas, bereft of a game plan that could break down the blanket defence.
Add to the fact that The Lilies, not only scored six points in 76 or 77 minutes but out of that six, just one, yes one point, came from open play.
It is a shocking statistic and one that does not bold well for the future.
Granted, and thankfully, Kildare won't be coming up against 15 man defensive teams in the near future but the worry is there nevertheless that if they do, they will struggle and struggle big time.

No doubt Croke Park are extremely worried with falling attendances and revenue but if this 'style' of football continues the drop in revenue, and attendances, will escalate even more alarmingly.

Maybe the Leader of the DUP was fully aware of the defensive tactics that her county would apply and decided to stay away,.

One way or another the big loser last weekend was not Kildare (difficult and all as that was).

The big loser was the game of football