Kildare senior hurling team comfortably defeat Tyrone
Christy Ring Cup Final, Croke Park, Dublin 2/6/2024 Derry vs Kildare Kildare Manager Brian Dowling Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady
A confident, slick-passing Kildare outfit proved far too strong for winless Tyrone in a one-sided affair at Cedral St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge on Saturday afternoon.
Having lost their opening game to Down, it was a fourth win in a row for the Lilywhites and keeps them in strong contention for promotion to Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League, particularly with their final round opponents Meath having lost to Derry this afternoon.
Tyrone, who opened the scoring with an Aidan Kelly free, had conceded nine goals last time out against Down but on this occasion their opponents were more focused on picking off long-range scores with ten different players getting on the mark in the opening half.
James Burke with four points led the way as Kildare hit 1-21 with only four in reply from the Red Hands before the interval. Defenders Rian Boran and Paul Dolan weighed in with three, as did midfielder Cian Boran, with three Kelly frees and a fine point from play from Ciaran Magill Tyrone’s only replies.
Kildare also found the net on eighteen minutes when Cian Boran latched onto a batted clearance from goalkeeper Conall Molloy and offloaded to Muiris Curtin to finish to an empty net with the netminder stranded.
Kildare understandably dropped the pace a little after the break but Jack Sheridan slotted home a fine finish from a Darragh Melville cross for their second goal on 44 minutes and Tyrone’s race was truly run six minutes later when a rash, high challenge on Sheridan saw wing-back Tiernan Morgan red-carded.
Burke and Rian Boran continued to lead from the front for Brian Dowling’s side, finishing on six and four points respectively.
The Red Hands men battled on as Kildare continued to rack up the scores but nine second half wides from the Ulstermen hampered their cause as they slumped to a fifth successive defeat, confirming their relegation to Division 3.
Meath’s defeat in Celtic Park earlier today means they need to beat Down in a refixed game next weekend in order to keep the promotion contest alive going into the final round a week later. Anything less and Kildare will have secured their place in the divisional final and their spot in the second tier of the league for 2026, which would be a significant step for the game in the county.
KILDARE: Mark Doyle; Liam O’Reilly, Matt Eustace, Rian Boran 0-4; Harry Carroll, Cathal McCabe 0-1, Paul Dolan 0-3; Daire Guerin 0-1, Cian Boran 0-4; James Burke 0-6, David Qualter 0-2 (2fs), Muiris Curtin 1-3; Jack Sheridan 1-5 (2fs) Darragh Melville 0-1, James Dolan (Celbridge) 0-1. Subs: James Dolan (Éire Óg Corra Choill) for P Dolan HT, Killian Harrington 0-1 for Qualter HT, Cormac Byrne for C Boran 41, Jack Higgins for Melville 48, Conn Kehoe for Sheridan 55.
TYRONE: Conall Molloy; Ronan Molloy, Fionn Devlin, Cian McGuigan; Lorcan Devlin, Cormac Munroe, Tiernan Morgan; Aidan Kelly 0-5 (4fs), Kiefer Morgan; Turlough Mullin, Branán Molloy, Mark McCann; Conal McKee, Ciaran Magill 0-1, Michael Little 0-2 (2fs).
Subs: Fionn Corry for K Morgan 18, Rory Weir for McCann 48, Aidan Woods for McKee 48, Ronan Maguire for B Molloy 53, Michael Coyle for R Molloy 58.
REFEREE: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).
