KILDARE hopes of inflicting a Leinster soccer earthquake have been boosted by the return to health of key defender Ryan Houlihan.
he Moorefield clubman has been named in his customary corner-back position for Saturday’s Leinster SFC decider towards a Dublin crew looking for to eclipse their very own milestone by making it 12 provincial titles on the bounce.
Houlihan was compelled to sit down out Kildare’s win over Westmeath, who uncovered some obvious defensive gaps even because the Lilies deservedly superior with a three-point victory.
When requested after the semi-final concerning the participant’s probably availability, supervisor Glenn Ryan replied: “We’ll take a look at him over the following few days and see how he is going … if he is 100% he’ll play and, if he is not, effectively that is why we attempt to construct up a panel.”
Based mostly on this night’s crew announcement, which sees his return on the expense of Mike Joyce, the presumption is that he’ll be prepared to begin towards the Dubs.
Houlihan had been in excellent kind throughout Kildare’s league marketing campaign earlier than succumbing to harm within the final spherical towards Mayo. He returned in time for his or her SFC opener towards Louth and was excelling in Tullamore that day earlier than struggling one other setback within the closing phases.
KILDARE (SFC v Dublin) – M Donnellan; M O’Grady (capt), S Ryan, R Houlihan; T Archbold, J Murray, Okay Flynn; Okay Feely, Okay O’Callaghan; A Beirne, B McCormack, P Cribbin; D Kirwan, D Flynn, J Hyland.
