Donoghue and McAndrew score dramatic late goals for minor footballers
TJ Donoghue scored one of the two late goals that swung this Leinster Minor Football Championship tie in Kildare's favour Photo: Sean Brilly
Two late goals secured a dramatic Kildare win over Meath in Group 2 of the Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Football Championship at Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Thursday night.
It was the sort of smash and grab raid that Meath teams trademarked in days gone by but on this occasion they were hit themselves by goals from TJ Donoghue and Niall McAndrew as Kildare moved to the top of the table on three points from two games.
Kildare looked second best for long periods with Meath full value for a four-point lead at half-time (0-10 to 0-6), which they had stretched to five by three quarter mark, but a brave home side hung in there and reduced the gap to a point with three minutes remaining (1-14 to 1-15), their direct running and fitness gradually wearing their opponents down.
Then came the drama. First, McAndrew fisted across goal for wing-back Donoghue to rise high and fist home emphatically at the back post to put the Lilywhites a point clear. Then in injury time Kildare broke up a Meath attack and Hugh Martin and Robbie Milham combined to set up McAndrew for a cool finish, leaving Kildare winners by five points.
Kildare had opened in lively fashion with a patient spell of keep-ball ending with Rory Thompson opening the scoring. Meath equalised with a free from Nathan Reilly, the first of a number brought forward by referee James Foley for dissent.
The home side hit back with a McAndrew point and when another free was brought forward from midfield, Pádraig Carty landed a two pointer to give Kildare a 0-4 to 0-1 advantage with eight minutes gone.
That lead flattered Kildare a little with Meath getting plenty of possession but unable to convert chances, though Niall Cronin’s side also might have made more of a couple of goal chances when first Carty was dispossessed by Glen Callaghan when bearing down on goal and then Thompson stuck the upright after being sent clear by Martin.
From that let-off Meath broke and full-forward Stephen Cahill pointed at the Kilcullen End. That gave them confidence and only a fine save from Jamie Wall denied Reilly a goal, but powerful midfielder Charlie Gallagher pointed to make it a one-point game.
Another brought forward free was converted by Thompson, but Kildare ill-discipline saw Adam McEvoy take advantage at the other end and on nineteen minutes Gallagher launched a monster effort into orbit to land a Royal two-pointer and put them 0-6 to 0-5 ahead.
The Meath men dominated from there to half-time as Kildare ran up a total of six wides. Another McEvoy free was replied to by Martin but a free from Gallagher and two from play from Reilly and captain Eoghan McBrearty gave the away team a deserved four-point advantage (0-10 to 0-6).
However, a minute into the second half Ollie Deller’s ball inside was transferred on by Martin to Thompson and the Raheens man finished to the net to leave only a point between them.
That reprieve was only temporary though with Gallagher landing another two point free and McEvoy adding a single from play to negate Thompson’s goal.
Rathangan’s Carty landed a second two-point free of his own from 45 metres, but Meath looked to have nabbed the game’s crucial score on 42 minutes. Reilly’s fisted effort looked to be dropping under the crossbar, but Kildare’s Charlie Doran batted it out when perhaps he could have let it go harmlessly into the net, and he was punished when Cahill buried the loose ball.
That stretched Meath’s advantage to five points, and it could have been eight almost immediately only for Senan Gallagher somehow scrambling Reilly’s latest effort off the line with goalkeeper Wall beaten.
Kildare, with substitute Turlough Donnelly starting to negate the influence of the tall Gallagher at midfield, began to inch back into contention. Another sub Cillian Long landed a free and Donnelly won and converted one himself from close range. Then Round Towers midfielder Deller landed two fine efforts, sandwiching one from Meath’s Will Byrne.
The lively Reilly made it 1-15 to 1-12 from play with six minutes remaining but a fine score from Martin from the left hand side and an equally impressive one from Carty narrowed the gap to a point.
Cue the drama at the end with the two goals sandwiching a pair of black cards for Kildare’s goalscorer Donoghue and Meath sub Robert Johnson as tempers frayed briefly.
With Kildare having drawn with Longford and Meath beating Westmeath in round one and Westmeath beating Longford in the other game on Thursday night, Kildare lead the group heading into the final round with three points while Westmeath and Meath have two and holders Longford have one point.
Three out of four teams advance from the group to the knockout stages. They meet Westmeath in their final game next Thursday in Newbridge with everything to play for in a highly competitive group.
Jamie Wall (Round Towers); Dan Sargent (Eadestown), Senan Gallagher (St Laurence’s), Charlie Cullen (Ellistown); Seán Gleeson (Round Towers), Charlie Doran (Clane), TJ Donohue (Sarsfields) 1-0; Niall McAndrew (Naas) 1-1, OIlie Deller (Round Towers) 0-2; Callum Keaveny (Athy), Hugh Martin (Suncroft) 0-2, Rian Curran (Raheens); Pádraig Carty (Rathangan) 0-5 (2tpfs), Rory Thompson (Raheens) 1-2 (1f), Mark Travers (Naas). Subs: Turlough Donnelly (Kilcullen) 0-1 (f) for Gleeson HT, Cillian Long (Naas) 0-1 (f) for Curran HT, Robbie Milham (Naas) for Keaveny 52, Eoghan Lyons (Clane) for Thompson 59.
Kian Campbell; Charlie O’Connor, Conall O’Sullivan, Glen Callaghan; Tadhg Foley, Eoghan McBrearty 0-1, Niall Lawless; Declan Byrne, Charlie Gallagher 0-6 (2tpfs,1f); Will Byrne 0-1, Cillian Murphy, Jeff Foley; Adam McEvoy 0-3 (2fs), Stephen Cahill 1-1, Nathan Reilly 0-3 (1f). Subs: Robert Johnson for J Foley 41, CJ Lynch for Cahill 49, Sean Delaney for Murphy 52, Sean Smith for Byrne 57, Max Condron for T Foley 57.
James Foley (Carlow).
