Kildare aiming to get back on track in front of maximum 1,200 spectators for Tailteann Cup clash with Longford

Kildare's Tailteann Cup opener against Longford will have a capacity of just 1,200 fans after the county opted to host the fixture at their Hawkfield centre of excellence.

Kildare's usual home ground, St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, has been undergoing redevelopment work which will almost double its capacity since March last year, and Glenn Ryan's side have played 'home' fixtures in Kilkenny, Tullamore and Carlow in that time but demand for tickets is expected to be low this Saturday.

The Lilywhites only lost by two points to eventual All-Ireland champions Dublin in last year's Leinster semi-final and then reached the preliminary quarter-finals, where they were beaten by Monaghan.

The 2024 campaign has been a miserable one however. Kildare were relegated after losing all seven of their Allianz Football League Division 2 games, their sole victory coming against Wicklow in the provincial quarter-final before elimination at the hands of Louth last time out.

Almost six years on from beating Mayo in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,200 in the 'Newbridge or Nowhere' qualifier, Kildare now expect to draw less than 15% of that number to their training pitch this Saturday, where they face a Longford outfit that finished mid-table in Division 4.

They will travel to Waterford for their round 2 group game before hosting Leitrim in the final round, at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport at the Tailteann Cup launch on Tuesday, forward Darragh Kirwan admitted that the second-tier competition was not where Kildare had planned to be but insisted they were viewing it as an opportunity to rebuild confidence.

"It's the first step to try and build a bit of momentum and restore a bit of pride really," he said.

"We're still quite raw from