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Westmeath set to pose a challenge for Kildare in Leinster Championship

While all eyes will be Lyon for Ireland's clash with France on Sunday afternoon, the small matter...



Westmeath set to pose a challe...
Football

Westmeath set to pose a challenge for Kildare in Leinster Championship

While all eyes will be Lyon for Ireland's clash with France on Sunday afternoon, the small matter of the Leinster Senior Football Championship rumbles on as Kildare take on Westmeath at Croke Park.

Organisers within the GAA have had the foresight to move the double header forward by two hours and have even agreed to show the second half of Ireland match on the big screens in Croke Park.

Speaking on tonight's show, Tomas Quinn praised the move taken by the GAA.

"It's something they should be commended for and the fact that they acted so quickly as well," he said, " I think the final whistle had just gone in the Ireland and Italy game that word was starting to break that they were looking to change the times.

"Ireland/Italy would have gone head-to-head with the Kildare/Westmeath game, so I think everyone wants people to watch the GAA first and foremost, but there's obviously huge interest in the soccer."

Cian O'Neill enjoys his first Championship campaign in charge of the Kildare football team and Quinn says that Westmeath pose the perfect challenge to the team, considering that Westmeath have only beaten Kildare once in the Leinster Championship all the way back in 1960.

"They're coming off the back of a very poor performance, they scraped over Wexford. Now it was a miserable night in Croke Park and everyone was waiting for the chance to get going. I think it finished 0-9-0-8. A really low scoring game and a really poor second half performance.

"I think the message from the management is 'Now we've had a couple of weeks to get better, let's not worry about how other people perceive us'.

"Westmeath are a good challenge. When you think about last year and their performance against Meath and got to a Leinster final. So this will be a big challenge for them.

"In recent years, Kildare would have looked past Westmeath considering it's been so long since they bet them. He'll be saying that they can't look past these teams and thinking about a potential Leinster final." 

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