By Michael Devlin

It was a case of ‘one that got away’ for Kildare according to team manger Cian O’Neill, who believes ‘mental fatigue’ had a part to play in his side’s two point defeat to Monaghan in the first phase of the All-Ireland Quarter-Final Group Stage in Croke Park this afternoon.

“Whoever came out of that the wrong side would have said it was one that got away,” said O’Neill after the game. “It was nip and tuck the whole way through from the very first score, and I think it was always going to won by the team that made the least amount of mistakes, and that was certainly Monaghan today.

“I’m not talking about forced errors, they were very strong in the tackle and full credit to them, but where I’m most disappointed is our unforced error count. We just made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes and I think that cost us in the end.

“It’s disappointing because we were so slick, in particularly last week. I really think there was a level of mental fatigue, which can impact skill execution in my eyes. Physically we were matching them right the way through. I think when you make the amount of unforced errors, it’s more a reflection of not being physically tired but mentally.

“I think our route to this point probably took more out of us, without any disrespect to the route that Monaghan had. They were definitely sharper in some of those execution parts, even in the rucks - the 50-50’s – we didn’t always come out in control there, and that’s disappointing.”

While the heavy schedule of games for Kildare have been taxing, they must get down to setting their minds to their next task, Connacht champions Galway at St Conleth’s Park next Sunday.

“We’ve a quick turnaround and we can’t be too disappointed. We have a big match next Sunday in Newbridge and we need to get ourselves back on track for that.

“The three games in four weeks is going to be a massive challenge, no more than the four games in five weeks in the qualifiers. Sometimes it takes an almighty smack in the face which is what we got in Tullamore [Leinster SFC quarter-final against Carlow] that time, to re-boost you.

“I think when the players look back on their performance today, based on the standards that they set in recent weeks themselves – and they set the standards, not us in the management – they’ll be disappointed in that and they’ll do their best to correct them in the next seven days.”