Kildare out to make the most of rare opportunity at Joe McDonagh Cup glory
Kildare v Laois
Croke Park
Throw-in: Sunday, 1.45pm
Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary)
Live on RTÉ2
When Kildare lost their opening Joe McDonagh Cup game to Kerry in mid-April, the odds on them making the final and Kerry being relegated were lengthy.
That was Kildare's ninth ever game in the competition and their ninth consecutive defeat, suggesting more misery for the side just out of the Christy Ring Cup.
Seven weeks and four unlikely wins later, experienced goalkeeper Paddy McKenna is on the verge of the most significant, and perhaps unexpected, achievement of his career.
"This was probably only in the far off depths of my brain at that stage," said McKenna of a final fixture after the defeat to Kerry.
"Thankfully we didn't make it to 10 losses in a row. Look, it was just getting back to basics, realising that we had to show up for every single game."
So when exactly did Kildare start to think of actually winning the competition?
"Probably when we got the result in Carlow, to be honest, that was a big monkey off our backs," said the five-time Ring Cup winner.
"They've had some massive results in the last few years, drawing with Kilkenny in the Leinster championship last year, beating Waterford in the league earlier, maintaining their status in Division 1B.
"That's the standard we want to be at so we knew that if we were able to get a result against them...and beating Laois and Westmeath as well, the three teams that had been up in the Leinster championship, that's kind of where we got the drive and the realisation that, yeah, it could be on for us."
The thing is, Kildare didn't just sneak into the final. They topped the group while Laois had to conjure a late, late goal to draw with Carlow and nudge the Barrowsiders out on scoring difference.
Laois are still favourites to win and to make up for last year's final loss to Offaly. Three of their starting defenders - Lee Cleere, Padraig Delaney and Ryan Mullaney - along with half-forward Paddy Purcell, lined out in the 2019 final win.
But what they hold over Kildare in experience and hurling tradition could be trumped by the sheer desperation of Brian Dowling's Lilywhites to make the most of this rare opportunity.
"It's going to be tough and I'd say Laois will have their homework done on us," said McKenna.
"I'd say they found out an awful lot about us when we played them in O'Moore Park a couple of weeks ago."
The one certainty is that Kildare will play Dublin or Tipperary in an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final in Newbridge next weekend.
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