Cork forward line run riot against Kildare
There's plenty for Kildare manager Brian Flanagan to ponder as his side slip deeper into the Division 2 relegation mire Photo: ©INPHO/Lorcan Doherty
A ragged Kildare side were embarrassingly and ruthlessly dismantled by promotion chasing Cork on another miserable night for the Lilywhites in Páirc Uí Rinn. A fourth successive defeat leaves Brian Flanagan’s side well and truly in the relegation mire and unless they can muster a win against in-form Louth next Sunday, they are relying on results involving Cavan and Offaly going their way to avoid an immediate return to Division 3.
Flanagan afterwards drew some solace from a bizarre final 25 minutes when, boosted by bench impact in attack, they outscored Cork by 1-12 to 0-5 and could have added four or five more goals. But the damage was well and truly done at that stage and you’d have to question how far Cork’s foot was off the accelerator at that point.
With the wind at their backs in a devastating opening half, Cork registered an incredible eight two-pointers, all bar one of those from play, as they peppered the Kildare posts at will. The visitors’ stand-offish, naïve defending, must have been a godsend for a team who’d been on the wrong end of a twenty-point annihilation in Derry the week before.
With barely a hand laid on them, the Rebels reached half-time 1-22 to 1-6 ahead.
Deadly duo Chris Óg Jones (1-9) and Steven Sherlock (0-10) were the shooting stars for Cork with five of the two-pointers between them. Mark Cronin, Dara Sheedy and Luke Fahy also raised orange flags in the opening half.
By the end of a rampant first quarter Cork were already 0-15 to 0-2 ahead with luckless Kildare losing midfielder Kevin Feely, who had started for Brendan Gibbons, after only ten minutes to a recurrence of a hamstring injury.
Gibbons duly replaced Feely and the Kilcock man gave his side a lifeline, finishing to the net on 24 minutes when retrieving Darragh Kirwan’s short point attempt for his first senior inter-county goal.
The reprieve didn’t last long, though. Three minutes later the most senior member of Kildare’s youthful defence, Brian Byrne, saw his misplaced pass out of defence leave him facing three attackers alone and Brian O’Driscoll and Cronin combined to set up Jones to finish to the net and make it 1-17 to 1-3.
Cork stretched their lead to a whopping nineteen points early in the second half, but the introduction of Ben McCormack, Alex Beirne and Jack Robinson boosted Kildare. McCormack landed two two-pointers from play before Robinson was put through by Brian McLoughlin and netted Kildare’s second goal through the legs of goalkeeper Patrick Doyle.
Then, in a remarkable final fifteen minutes Ben Loakman two-pointed for Kildare before Doyle conceded a penalty and was black-carded for tripping McLoughlin outside the box, referee Liam Devenney pointing to the spot under the “clear goalscoring opportunity rule.” But after a delay for the substitution to take place that can only have ratcheted the pressure on Beirne, Doyle’s replacement Micheál Aodh Martin got down to his left to push out the Naas man’s spot kick.
Kildare seemed to throw off the shackles then with nothing really to lose and went in search of goals. Byrne of all people crashed a close-range shot down off the crossbar and Martin was forced into saves from Robinson twice and McLoughlin.
Beirne’s late two-pointer brought the gap down to eight, but it was appropriate that the last word went to the classy Jones who rounded off the scoring with Cork’s last point.
Patrick Doyle; Maurice Shanley, Daniel O’Mahony, Seán Brady; Brian O’Driscoll, Tommy Walsh 0-1, Luke Fahy 0-3 (1tp); Colm O’Callaghan, Ian Maguire; Paul Walsh 0-1, Mark Cronin 0-4 (1tp), Sean McDonnell; Chris Óg Jones 1-9 (2tp), Dara Sheedy 0-3 (1tp), Steven Sherlock 0-10 (2tp,tpf,’45). Subs: Ruairí Deane for McDonnell 52, Sean Walsh for P Walsh 52, Matthew Taylor for T Walsh 56, Micheál Aodh Martin for Sheedy 58, Darragh Cashman for Taylor (temp 59-70), Rory Maguire for Doyle 66.
Cian Burke; Harry O’Neill, Pádraic Spillane, Brian Byrne; Liam Kelly, Eoin Lawlor, Ryan Burke; Callum Bolton 0-1, Kevin Feely; Brian McLoughlin 0-1 (f), Colm Moran 0-2, Colm Dalton 0-2; Sam Doran, Darragh Kirwan 0-3, Ben Loakman 0-2 (tp). Subs: Brendan Gibbons 1-0 for Feely 10, Alex Beirne 0-3 (1tp,1f) for Doran HT, Ben McCormack 0-4 (2tp) for Kelly HT, Jack Robinson 1-1 (0-1f) for Moran 46, Eoin Cully for Loakman 64.
Liam Devenney (Mayo).
