Kildare secure their place in the Leinster SFC Semi-Final

The Senior Football team secured their place in the semi-final of the Leinster SFC with a 1-21 to 1-07 victory over Laois today Sunday 4th June.

Congratulations to the team and management.

They now look forward to a semi-final against Meath on Saturday 17th June in O’Connor Park, Tullamore at 7pm.

Be There. All The Way

Leinster SFC Quarter-Final

KILDARE 1-21 LAOIS 1-7

Kevin Egan reports from Tullamore

7,477 supporters took advantage of the pleasant June sunshine and filed into O’Connor Park this afternoon for what was expected to be a fiercely contested local derby between Kildare and Laois.

Instead they were treated to a tour de force from the Lily Whites and an anaemic performance from Laois, resulting in a landslide 1-21 to 1-7 victory for Cian O’Neill’s side.

Few teams have polarised opinions like the Kildare footballers in recent years, and it was easy to see why after they put in a Jekyll and Hyde performance in the first half while playing with the assistance of a strong wind.

Their ravenous commitment to the tackle allowed Donie Kingston to capitalise on their rash enthusiasm, sidestepping three defenders and slipping the ball underneath Mark Donnellan for a splendid goal to ignite this contest after just two minutes of play. However in the second quarter their hunger and controlled aggression yielded spectacular dividends as they turned Laois over time and again, spoiling five attacks in a row at one stage.

Similarly in their attacking play, we saw class and confusion from the favourites in equal measure. Once Kingston hit the twine at the Arden Road end of the ground the reply was decisive and instantaneous. Four points in succession were fired over Graham Brody’s crossbar, two from the boot of Cathal McNally, who looked lively and threatening with good runs across the full forward line.

However that was quickly followed by a sustained fallow period in which Kildare enjoyed plenty of possession, but struggled to work out how to counteract the deep-lying Laois defence. A series of poorly-chosen shots resulted in some bad wides and more balls dropped into Graham Brody’s hands, but when they found their rhythm in the fifteen minutes before half time, they were far too hot for Laois to handle.

Strong runs from deep opened up the Laois defence and created some fine chances from intermediate range, with time and space to execute the shots – and execute the shots is exactly what they did.

Ollie Lyons, Keith Cribbin and Niall Kelly were all on the scoresheet as Kildare moved 0-12 to 1-2 in front at the break, a scoreline that was nothing more than a fair reflection of the victor’s dominance. However with the wind still to come, Laois would have felt like a comeback was still a possibility, and that a place in the last four in the province wasn’t off the table.

For that to happen, they needed their forward line to fire on all cylinders, as happened in the first round against Longford – and that certainly didn’t happen here. Donie Kingston struggled to find the range and missed with a series of shots, and in the absence of a strong showing from their talisman, the rest of the forward line struggled to make an impact. It wasn’t until the 49th minute that Laois finally struck a point from play, a nice strike on the run from Alan Farrell.

By then, it was all but confirmed that the O’Moore County were going to be in the qualifier pot next Tuesday morning, as Kildare had kicked on with 1-4 of their own. David Slattery got Kildare off the mark with his first point in championship football, Johnny Byrne and Cathal McNally added points within twenty seconds of one another, Niall Kelly blasted the ball over the bar from close range all before Daniel Flynn settled the contest, placing the ball into the top corner from close range after Slattery fed him with an improvised handpass.

Supporters started to leave the Tullamore venue in droves as the game meandered to a conclusion, with both sides operating at something closer to a challenge match pace in the dying stages. Gary Walsh offered some resistance with three points off the bench for Laois while Eamon Callaghan, Chris Healy and Fionn Dowling all looked sharp upon their introduction, but they won’t expect to get anything like the same time and space when they meet Meath in a Leinster semi-final on Saturday week.

Scorers for Kildare: D Flynn 1-3, C McNally & N Kelly 0-3 each, K Feely (0-2f) & P Cribbin 0-2 each, K Cribbin, M Donnellan (’45), O Lyons, T Moolick, D Slattery, J Byrne, F Dowling, E Callaghan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Laois: D Kingston 1-2 (0-2f), G Walsh 0-3 (0-1 ’45), E O’Carroll (f) & A Farrell 0-1 each.

KILDARE: M Donnellan; O Lyons, M O’Grady, D Hyland; J Byrne, E Doyle, K Cribbin; K Feely, T Moolick; F Conway, N Kelly, P Cribbin; D Slattery, D Flynn, C McNally. Subs: E Callaghan for Conway (53), F Dowling for Moolick (57), C Healy for McNally (57), P Kelly for O’Grady (64), E Bolton for D Flynn (64).

LAOIS: G Brody; D Strong, D Booth, J Kelly; E Buggie, P McMahon, D O’Connor; C Begley, B Quigley; N Donoher, J O’Loughlin, E O’Carroll; P Kingston, D Kingston, A Farrell. Subs: A Doran for Donoher (19), G Walsh for O’Carroll (41), R Munnelly for P Kingston (52), K Meaney for Quigley (64), D Conway for Doran (64), J Finn for Kelly (66)

Referee: David Coldrick (Meath)