Kildare manager Jason Ryan has made the surprise admission that some of his players were 'shocked' by the physicality that Meath brought to their Leinster SFC semi-final clash.

The Royals saw off the challenge of the Lilywhites to book their place in the provincial decider against Dublin on July 20th.

A poor first half led to Kildare's demise, but Ryan told the Leinster Leader that they were surprised by the physicality that Meath possessed.

"We felt we were well prepared and we felt that physically we were in a good place," said Ryan. "I will say that our players were really shocked by the level of physicality they encountered and the strength that the likes of Kevin Reilly showed and the tightness of the marking of Donnacha Tobin on Cathal McNally was unreal."

Kildare must now turn their attention to the All-Ireland qualifiers and a meeting with Down. Tweet

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