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Jack O’Connor confirmed that a Kildare footballer tested positive for Covid-19 in the run-up to the Allianz Football League victory over Cavan.
Despite the disruption this diagnosis caused and additional testing for other panel members, Kildare’s manager expressed hope the season can continue, saying his players would be “ devastated ” if games were suspended due to the increased public health restrictions.
Threatened by relegation to Division 3, Kerry’s former coach described today as “almost a championship game” for the Lilywhites, but admitted that preparations were seriously hampered.
“We had a shaky week last week,” he told RTÉ’s Sunday Sport. “Guys getting tested and stuff and it was a huge interruption, but luckily we had enough bodies to put on the field today.
“The government is going to come out with a statement tomorrow, so we’ll see how it goes,” he added. “Players will be devastated, after putting their lives on hold for so long, if there is no continuation now.
O’Connor confirmed that a panel member isolated himself after testing positive at the end of the week, despite this, no player has expressed concern about continuing with matches.
“We have been taking all precautions. We have a player who has tested positive, so he is out of the group,” he said.
“When guys are working and mingling with other people, it’s probably only a matter of time before problems arise.”
He added: “We’re just trying to focus on the game ahead of us and you can’t think too much ahead and you can’t go halfway on this.
“This was a great game for us, this was almost a championship game for us today because we certainly don’t want to play our football in Division 3 next year.
Other authorities will [decision on whether games continue]… all I know is a lot of counties are having trouble – players are being tested during the week, the uncertainty of all that, and if it continues and gets worse, maybe someone will stop.
“From our point of view, we have a lot of work and we want to continue playing football.”
In the game itself, O’Connor attributed Cavan’s late recovery to a lack of physical fitness among the counties on his team.
“We conceded a little more than we would have liked. The guys were a bit leggy at the end, I think they are used to playing only club football until two weeks ago so we don’t have 70 or 75 minutes of play.” our legs in the last few months, so I think about the last 10 minutes that were shown. “
Things are still very tight at the bottom of Division 3 and Kildare will need a result against Westmeath on Saturday to secure his status.
“We have yet to get a result in that game and we will do our best to win it because Division 2 has been very competitive and God only knows what results it will deliver next week.”
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