Kildare Senior footballers secure promotion to Division 2
Kildare Darragh Kirwan and Antrim Conor Stewart. Photo: Sean Brilly
They say the scoreboard never lies. Perhaps, but it certainly doesn’t always tell the whole story.
Kildare footballers put their supporters through the ringer before securing promotion to Division 2 with an eleven-point win over a doomed Antrim in Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Sunday afternoon.
After two consecutive defeats on the road to Clare and Offaly, the Lilywhites looked set for a routine win back on home ground as they opened up a six point lead inside fifteen minutes, with Niall Kelly, Callum Bolton and Alex Beirne registering two apiece.
But Antrim utilised their wind advantage to hit back with an avalanche of two-point scores for the remainder of the half to turn the game on its head and leave Kildare nerves jangling, though Flanagan will be asking how his team allowed the Saffrons to shoot with little pressure applied at times.
Antrim needed Leitrim to pull off a miracle against Sligo to pull off a great escape and they were certainly living up to their end of the bargain in registering no fewer than six two-point scores to turn the game on its head before the interval.
Dominic McEnhill was in sparkling form in shooting four of those while Conor Stewart and Patrick McBride raised their own orange flags as Antrim went in at the break leading by 0-14 to 0-9, with Kildare’s only replies coming from Ryan Sinkey, Colm Dalton and Beirne during that period. Dalton’s point might have been a goal had he elected to use Sinkey when the Naas man was loitering unmarked at the back post.
Kildare knew they needed to win to secure a top two spot, and had their substitutes bench and the veteran corner-forward Kelly to thank for turning that deficit around and eventually running out eleven point winners.
Ben McCormack, introduced at half-time, had reduced the arrears and Kelly’s goal nine minutes after the interval, neatly finished across goalkeeper Luke Mulholland into the bottom far corner, brought Kildare within a point before Dalton levelled matters a minute later as the home side’s confidence surged.
They dominated the kick-outs for the remainder of the game and with their substitutes contributing ten points, five of those from Darragh Kirwan including a two point free, they prevailed with something to spare.
Even then, a goal from Fionn Nagle scored at the second attempt on 63 minutes had the local hearts fluttering again, with the gap down to four (1-19 to 1-15) but Kildare reeled off the final seven points of the game to embellish the scoreline and secure both promotion and a Division 3 final against Offaly next Saturday night. Antrim had corner back Eoghan McCabe sent off on a second yellow card in the dying minutes, but it was academic at that point.
Offaly meanwhile succumbed to a second-half Clare comeback in Ennis that left the two sides tied with Kildare on ten points but a superior scoring difference seeing Kildare finish in top spot despite having lost to both their promotion rivals in the run-in.
McCormack may be a doubt for that one having come off with a knee concern towards the end after making his mark with two points but the return of Kirwan for his first minutes since the opener against Fermanagh will be a boost to Flanagan with the Championship around the corner.
KILDARE: Cian Burke; Harry O’Neill, Mick O’Grady, Brian Byrne; Ryan Houlihan, James McGrath, David Hyland; Kevin Feely 0-1 (f), Aaron Masterson; Cathal Hagney, Callum Bolton 0-2, Colm Dalton 0-2; Ryan Sinkey 0-1, Alex Beirne 0-6 (1tpf,1f), Niall Kelly 1-4. Subs: Ben McCormack 0-2 for Hagney HT, Paddy McDermott 0-1 for Masterson 44, Darragh Kirwan 0-5 (1tpf) for Sinkey 51, Brian McLoughlin 0-1 for McCormack 64, Tony Archbold 0-1 for Beirne 71.
ANTRIM: Luke Mulholland; Eoghan McCabe, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; James McAuley, Jack Lenehan, Dermot McAleese; Conor Stewart 0-3 (1tp), Patrick Finnegan; Patrick McCabe 0-2 (2p), Niall Burns, Ruairí McCann; Conor Hand, Dominic McEnhill 0-8 (1tp, 3tpfs), Ryan McQuillan 0-2 (1f). Subs: Eunan Quinn for Hand 41, Fionn Nagle 1-0 for Finnegan 50, Ronan Boyle for Keenan 60, Calum Higgins for Burns 66, James McDonnell for Walsh 69.
REFEREE: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).
