Battling Kildare ladies sent down by Kerry
The Kildare team in a huddle with manager Pat Sullivan after defeat to Kerry confirmed their relegation to Division 2
Kildare suffered the gut-wrenching disappointment of relegation from Division 1 of the Lidl National Football League as they fell short by a single point to Kerry at a windswept Manguard Park.
Late scores conceded in draws away to Cork and Waterford ultimately proved their undoing but to finish bottom of the table on five-points despite being highly-competitive over the full campaign will stick in the craws of a Lilywhite side who will still feel they are in decent shape for a tilt at the Leinster title, particularly with All Ireland champions Dublin suffering the drop alongside them.
Kildare had the advantage of a strong wind kicking up the hill in the opening half and they got off to a fast start with sharp-shooter Aoife Rattigan on the mark three times to open up a lead.
Rattigan converted frees after fouls on Jessica Harney and Mayah Doyle and then Doyle set the Cappagh forward up for her third from play with six minutes on the clock.
If Kildare could have edged a little further ahead at that stage, they might have put Kerry under severe pressure. But the Kingdom played their way back into it, after a couple of wides, with a fine finish to the net by full-forward Danielle O’Leary after swerving past two defenders.
It looked ominous enough when O’Leary and wing-back Éabha Ní Laighinn pointed to send Kerry 1-2 to 0-3 ahead by the end of the first quarter but 1-2 in the space of two minutes saw Kildare back in the ascendancy.
Molly Aspell registered their first point in twelve minutes before Doyle once more set up Rattigan for her fourth point. Rattigan then snaffled Ciara Butler’s kickout and found the net with a delicious chip to make it 1-5 to 1-2.
Star Kerry forward Síofra O’Shea pulled one back from a close range free and with six minutes left to the interval the same player was deemed to have been fouled by Laoise Lenehan when shooting and the Kill wing back was sin-binned for a crucial ten-minute period either side of half-time. O’Shea converted the free.
Despite the numerical disadvantage Kildare outscored their visitors two points to one in the remaining minutes of the half with Rattigan converting a free for a three-up breach, Leah McMahon seeing her goal attempt brilliantly tipped over by Rachel Fennin in the home goal and the Wheeler sisters Gillian and Ciara combining for the latter to make it 1-7 to 1-5 at the interval.
It felt like two points wasn’t going to be enough with Kerry’s second-half wind advantage and they made short shrift of that deficit with points from Mary O’Connell and O’Shea within the opening two minutes of the half.
A point from Rattigan’s free saw Kildare back ahead by the minimum as they welcomed Lenehan back but Kerry looked the stronger team at this point and O’Shea, from the edge of the ‘D’, and Niamh Ní Conchúir found the range to put them back in front by the 40th minute, while midfielder Niamh Carmody was just wide of the top corner with an impudent goal attempt.
The energetic Aoife Murnane was unable to pull the trigger in time when creating a goal opportunity for herself but on 43 minutes Kildare rocked the Kingdom when Gillian Wheeler’s high ball was well fetched by the tightly marked Alannah Prizeman and the Naas forward did superbly to spin and send her left footed shot past Butler for the home side’s second goal.
That put Kildare 2-8 to 1-9 in front, with salvation looking a distinct possibility, but Kerry proved relentless and when Fennin saved an O’Leary effort superbly, the ball unfortunately bounced up for the full-forward to palm it home for her second goal.
Kildare were defending resolutely in this spell, but Lenehan again looked unfortunate to be deemed to have fouled Aishling O’Connor as she moved in on goal. But Fennin stood up superbly once more to push O’Shea’s penalty out for a ’45 to keep the gap at a single point.
With six minutes left, though, Kildare’s midfield was bypassed by a superb kickout from Butler and substitute Rachel Dwyer punished them with a point to make it 2-10 to 2-8.
Pat Sullivan’s side kept battling and Ruth Dillon claimed a high ball to win a close-range free which Rattigan converted once more to bring her tally to 1-7 with three minutes remaining.
Kerry played keep ball for over two minutes but Dwyer’s wide with 42 seconds on the clock gave Kildare one last chance to grab the goal that would have rescued them.
Unfortunately, they took the indirect route to goal when it needed a route one approach, and they ran out of time before getting a shot away as Kerry retained their own Division 1 status while sending Kildare back to the second tier.
Ciara Butler; Eilís Lynch, Deirdre Kearney, Róisín Rahilly; Éabha Ní Laighinn 0-1, Aoife Dillane, Aishling O’Connell; Niamh Carmody, Anna Galvin; Kelly Enright, Niamh Ní Chonchúir 0-1, Caoimhe Evans; Síofra O'Shea 0-4 (2fs), Danielle O'Leary 2-1, Leah McMahon 0-1. Subs: Mary O’Connell 0-1 for Enright HT, Jadyn Lucey for Ni Conchúir 50, Mikala Mulvihill for Evans 50, Rachel Dwyer 0-1 for Carmody 52.
Rachel Fennin; Áine Mernagh, Mia Doherty, Laoise Lenehan; Lisa Shaw, Ruth Sargent, Hazel McLoughlin; Jessica Harney, Gillian Wheeler; Aoife Murnane, Ciara Wheeler 0-1, Molly Aspell 0-1; Aoife Rattigan 1-7 (0-5fs), Mayah Doyle, Alannah Prizeman 1-0. Subs: Róisín Forde for Harney 14, Lara Curran for Doyle 43, Aisling Irhue for Shaw 47, Ruth Dillon for Murnane 53, Amy Mahon for Doherty 53.
Paul McCaughey (Westmeath).
