Moorefield veteran Ronan Sweeney didn't expect to find himself in the thick of the fray after only 22 minutes of yesterday's Kildare SFC final.

The former county star's experience proved invaluable as the 'Moores' overcame the early dismissals of captain Daryl Flynn and David Whyte to record an unlikely 0-11 to 0-9 victory over Celbridge at St. Conleth's Park. 

"Ross (Glavin, manager) told me earlier to be ready as I could be going in at any stage but I certainly didn't think it would come that soon and in those circumstances. A team tries to prepare for everything and be ready for every eventuality but this (losing two players in the first 20 minutes) isn't something you can plan for," 'Rolly' told the Irish Independent.

"So when it happened, we just had to get on with it. We have a very experienced panel and a very honest one too. That was certainly needed today."

The 37-year-old, who pocketed his eighth SFC medal, added: "We slowed the game down as best we could. And when we got forward, the lads picked off their scores really well. There was very little waste."

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