Senior Footballers Edge Past Kildare To Reach Leinster Final

DUBLIN 0-14 

KILDARE 0-12 

Dublin advanced to the final of the Leinster Senior Football Championship after their narrow two-point victory over Kildare at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Dubs trailed by two points at the interval but gradually took control of matters in the second-half with late points from Cormac Costello and Loran O’Dell sealing their hard-earned win.

In doing so, Dublin reached their thirteenth consecutive provincial final appearance but they were made to work hard for their victory against a Kildare team that opened the scoring through Darragh Kirwan in the first minute.

Paul Mannion opened Dublin’s account in the 6^th minute but Kildare looked the more solid outfit initially as they restored their lead through Paddy Woodgate two minutes later.

Mannion once again brought the teams level after a Colm Basquel pass soon after and the tightness of the encounter continued with Woodgate and Mannion exchanging scores to leave the sides deadlocked at 0-3 apiece by the 24^th minute.

Woodgate was once again on the mark for Kildare with Ciaran Kilkenny on this occasion restoring parity before the Lilies opened up a deserved three-point advantage following unanswered points by Jack Robinson, Ben McCormack and Kirwan.

A Con O’Callaghan free and a Ross McGarry point left the bare minimum between the teams but a late free from Robinson left Kildare in a solid position as they entered the break 0-8 to 0-6 to the good. 

Another McCormack point within three minutes of the restart enhanced Kildare’s position with a Woodgate free three minutes later leaving Dublin in a pickle as they trailed by four points.

Crucially, they kicked the next two scores through Seán Bugler and Basquel and while a Robinson free pushed Kildare three points clear, Dublin struck back with two points in quick succession from Lee Gannon and O’Callaghan.

A cracking Cian Murphy point levelled matters midway through the half and while Neil Flynn edged Kildare back in front in the 59th minute, it proved their final score of the contest as they efforts began to take their toll.

Jack McCaffrey brought the team back on level terms a minute later as Dublin controlled possession for the closing stages, with points from Costello and O’Dell ensuring Dublin advanced to a Leinster final meeting with Louth.

Scorers - Dublin: P Mannion 0-3, C O’Callaghan 0-2 (1f), L Gannon, C Murphy, R McGarry, S Bugler, C Kilkenny, C Basquel, J McCaffrey, L O’Dell, C Costello (f) 0-1 apiece. Kildare: P Woodgate 0-4 (2f, 1 ‘45’), J Robinson 0-3 (3f), B McCormack, D Kirwan 0-2, N Flynn 0-1. 

Dublin: S Cluxton; D Newcombe, D Byrne, L Gannon; J Small, C Murphy, T Lahiff; B Fenton, J McCarthy; R McGarry, S Bugler, C Kilkenny; P Mannion, C O’Callaghan, C Basquel. Subs: C Costello for McGarry and J McCaffrey for Lahiff (both HT), L O’Dell for Basquel (50), P Small for Mannion (58), D Rock for Bugler (65).

Kildare: M Donnellan; E Doyle, S Ryan, M O’Grady; D Hyland, K Flynn, J Sargent; K O’Callaghan, A Masterson; P McDermott, B McCormack, A Beirne; J Robinson, D Kirwan, P Woodgate. Subs: P Cribbin for Beirne (46), N Flynn for Robinson (49), D Flynn for Kirwan (56), K Feely for Masterson (63), J Hyland for McCormack (69).

Referee: F Kelly (Longford).