Kildare have momentum

GAELIC GAMES:IT'S HARD not to feel sympathy for Derry. Their preparations for last Sunday's Ulster final against Donegal were shaken by the loss of key forward Eoin Bradley, and as much as manager John Brennan tried to argue otherwise, his absence made a difference between winning and the losing.

Now comes the dreaded six-day turnaround, which Brennan was bitter about after Sunday’s defeat. It won’t be easy to raise his troops again, particularly as they appeared to feel so hard done by with the decision to award Donegal a penalty early in the second half.

No such worries for Kieran McGeeney and Kildare as he looks to continue his record of never losing a qualifier match in his four seasons in charge. (He’s played 11, won 10 and drew one.)

McGeeney has kept faith with the side that beat Meath last Saturday, which means James Kavanagh is again on the bench. Robert Kelly is again preferred at number 13. Tomás O’Connor will again be the target man up front, and although he was held scoreless against Meath, expect him to unleash his wrath again.

KILDARE: S Connolly; A McLoughlin, M Foley, H McGrillen; G White, M OFlaherty, E Bolton; J Doyle, D Flynn; P O’Neill, E O’Flaherty, E Callaghan; R Kelly, T O’Connor, F Dowling.

DERRY: tba.