‘I know how much they wanted it’: Athlone boss Kilduff
Ciarán Kilduff has described leading Athlone Town to the Women’s Premier Division title as probably the most satisfying feeling he has ever experienced in football.
“I know how much the group wanted it. It’s probably the best satisfaction I’ve ever had from football, seeing them lifting that tonight,” he told the Westmeath Independent after the 2-0 win over Bohemians last Saturday night.
“It’s a great feeling. You become invested so much with the group rather than as an individual player when you’re always worried about your own performance.
“I know what they have sacrificed, I know what they’ve given me. I’m not easy on them, I’m not easy to work with! I demand a lot from them, but they respond to it and I’m just so happy for them,” continued Kilduff, who won Premier Division medals as a player with Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk.
As for last Saturday night’s match itself, Kilduff admitted his side took some time to find cohesion in their play, though the weather was among the mitigating factors.
“It wasn’t pretty at times tonight, conditions were blustery. Bohs are a decent team, they’re well set up. They came here and they were good for the first half hour. I think when we got the first goal, it settled us down a bit. We hit the bar in the second half and we could have made it look more convincing than it was. Look, it’s job done and thankfully we got over the line.”
Kilduff went on to emphasise that the league was won over the course of 19 games - Athlone still have one league fixture to fulfil - rather than last Saturday night’s high profile encounter.
On a night when the windy conditions wreaked havoc with efforts at passing and controlling the ball, Bohemians’ desire to play out from the back left them vulnerable to pressure from Athlone’s pressing game. Both of Athlone’s goals, scored by Madison Gibson and Kellie Brennan, came from exploiting defensive mistakes from Bohemians.
“We tried to put pressure on them,” admitted Kilduff. “We know they try to play out through the units. We could have played better ourselves but to punish them when the opportunities came was key. In fairness to Madie and Kellie, they have come up with huge moments, both defensively and attacking moments throughout the season. What a way to win it.”
One of the most pleasing aspects of Athlone’s league success was the way they dealt with setbacks such as injuries to key players Chloe Singleton and Kerryanne Brown and the departure of Casey Howe.
“We just had to adapt and overcome (those setbacks). We knew we were losing big players, big characters and personalities. But we had enough in the end within the group and we had Brenda (Ebika Tabe) coming in and scoring the goals. You see Ciara O’Neill at right-back tonight doing a job for us. These girls were ready and waiting. It wasn’t 11 players that won the league; it was the squad of 22 players.”
The chance to wrap up the league on home turf was something Kilduff felt his team had to grasp with both hands.
“We knew this was our last opportunity to do it here. The next game is away in Galway and then the cup final is obviously in Tallaght. It’s a special night to be honest,” he remarked.
“I referenced it today that it was our last home game of the season. Forgetting what’s on the line, I asked can we just put in a good performance. We probably didn’t hit the heights I wanted but when you factor in everything that was on the line - the nerves, the tension, it was always going to be that way. I’m delighted with it.”
With Women’s Premier Division glory following FAI Cup success last year, Kilduff has reaped a rich harvest with Athlone since taking charge during the course of last season. Yet he was keen to share the credit around.
“I didn’t win any of it; the girls won it. I did my best with them; I feel like I got the best out of them. They are a special group. The players I brought in, the staff, the people in the background. It’s not down to one thing; it’s down to a lot of things. This is a special time for this group and this club. To win that league this season on the back of the FAI Cup is something we should be very proud of,” he declared.
Kilduff agreed that his side’s strong defence was just as important as the goalscoring exploits of players like Madison Gibson and Brenda Ebika Tabe.
“If you going to win a league, you need a good defence and you need to be able to put the ball in the back of the net and we were able to do both,” he said. “At times we give up a lot of chances because but we want to be so aggressive and I encourage the players to be aggressive and play with flair and throw caution to the wind. When you have a goalkeeper like Katie Keane and centre-halves like Jesi (Rossman) and Kayleigh (Shine) and full-backs like Shauna (Brennan) and Kellie (Brennan) and Ciara (O’Neill) tonight, you back them in one-on-one duels and that’s the backbone of this success,” Kilduff added.