Kildare Stars Enjoyed Proving The Doubters Wrong In Joe McDonagh Cup Celebrations

Kildare delivered one of their all-time great performances on Sunday, hammering Laois 2-26 to 1-19 to claim a maiden Joe McDonagh Cup and set their course for a first All-Ireland campaign since 2004.

Laois had come into the clash as heavy favourites, and for the entirety of the first half, were living up to that reputation in every area of the game except the scoreboard.

Fortunate as they were to find the refuge of the dressing rooms on level par, Kildare found an entirely different level in the second half, with goals from Jack Travers and Jack Sheridan, as well as 13 points from David Qualter, helping the Lilywhites defy the odds and once again return silverware to Naas.

Considering the start to Kildare's season that saw them lose their opening round robin game to Kerry, a loss that was their ninth consecutive one in the Joe McDonagh, there was little surprise that confidence in their silverware chances wasn't sky high.

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That underdog status certainly wasn't lost on the victorious Kildare side, who took to social media in their swathes to laugh away previous claims about their chances.

One particular tweet from prolific Kerry GAA supporter Aidan Leahy, back in April, after Kildare's loss to Kerry, had claimed "Kildare still can’t win a game in the Joe McDonagh with all their roaring and bawling and crying," garnered quite the reaction.

First came Kildare star Darragh Melville, who reposted the tweet accompanied by a picture of him and his Kildare teammates celebrating their win at the back of the bus.

https://t.co/f6WIj8rXwi pic.twitter.com/jRGrWaDsgE

— Darragh Melville (@darraghmelville) June 8, 2025

Then came the avalanche, Lilywhites substitute Frank Bass not only posted a similarly pointed retweet of the claim, but also reposted hosts of similar posts from across the GAA world.

Hello Aidan https://t.co/r9xs3jUjah pic.twitter.com/oZjHalVLMN

— Frank Bass (@FrankBasss) June 8, 2025

In fairness to Leahy, the original provocateur, after the story lit up social media, he did own it on his own page, joking about how the tweet had come back to bite him, and simply commenting 'fair' on Darragh Melville's bite-back.

Aidan Leahy try not to tweet something will come back to bite challenge impossible

— Aidan Leahy (@Aido_L) June 8, 2025

Just as it started in Croke Park, Kildare's celebrations continued on long beyond their bus trip back to Naas, with the victors taking to the stage for a sing-along at their homecoming.

The celebrations have began here in the Osprey! pic.twitter.com/geftJ6o33l

— Kildare GAA (@KildareGAA) June 8, 2025

The celebrations will, however, be somewhat tamed by All-Ireland duty, which will see Kildare return to action against Leinster neighbours Dublin next weekend.

From now on, it will be the toughest of roads for them. Should they muster another entirely unlikely victory and oust Dublin from the race for Liam McCarthy, then a clash with John Kiely's Limerick will lie in wait at the quarter-final stage.