25 July 2015; Cathal McNally, Kildare, in action against Barry O’Driscoll, Cork. GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship, Round 4A, Kildare v Cork. Semple Stadium, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Picture credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE
By Tommy Callaghan, Sports Editor, Leinster Leader
We appeal to patrons to refrain from coming on to the pitch after the final whistle as we are hosting three All Ireland hurling quarter finals here tomorrow, roared the man on the PA.
The venue: Semple Stadium, Thurles.
The occasion: All Ireland Football Qualifiers.
The date: Saturday, July 25, 2015.
In action: Kildare and Cork.
Incredibly the last time Kildare had defeated Cork was back in 1928, and they (Kildare) went on to win the All Ireland and, as you are all no doubt aware, that is the last time The Lilies lifted the Sam Maguire.
With Jason Ryan taking over from The Geezer in 2014, a year The Lilies were demoted to Division 2, the downward spiral continued in 2015 with Kildare plunging to Division 3 for the luckless Ryan.
The one shining light in 2015, was, you guessed it, that game against Cork, a game that Kildare shocked The Rebels 1-21 to 1-13 to book their place in the All Ireland quarter-final. And while what happened in Kildare’s next game we will not refer to, just remember the Thurles occasion, watched by a little over 3,000 spectators, the vast majority supporting the boys in white.
And while the man on the PA system continued to do what he was told, appealing to fans to keep off the sacred turf of Semple, another, wiser soul manning the small gate that led to the playing surface, just stood aside saying: “Go on lads, enjoy the moment.”
It showed back then, and little has changed since, that a win in the All Ireland Qualifiers was an occasion to celebrate, it says it all really.
As we reported in the Leinster Leader the following week Cork had just lost a Munster final that they should have had wrapped up two weeks previously and it soon became obvious on this occasion that wherever The Rebels got their name from it wasn’t from playing football in the Qualifiers.
Kildare manager Jason Ryan was on the line like a commander dishing out the orders to his troops. Slowly but surely the Lilies edged in front and when half time arrived the boys in white were in control.
Cork showed signs of a fight back early on the resumption but were hit by a scud missile courtesy of a young gun from Athy.
The Lilies were now in full bloom, from the back they built; in mid- division, they were growing in confidence while the boys leading the attack were hitting the target more frequently than they had hit it throughout the entire season of 2015.
Cork threw everything at their opponents, including some fresh foot soldiers, but to no avail.
There was no stopping Kildare as they recorded victory over the same army they last put to bed some 87 summers previously. Final score Kildare 1-21 Cork 1-13.
Scorers Kildare: Niall Kelly 1-4, Eoghan O’Flaherty 0-5 (0-5f), Padraig Fogarty 0-3 (0-1f), Alan Smith 0-2, Mark Donnellan (0-2 ’45), Paul Cribbin 0-2 each, Ollie Lyons, Pádraig O’Neill, Cathal McNally 0-1 each.
Cork: Colm O’Neill 1-4 (1-2f), Donncha O’Connor 0-5 (0-3f, 0-1 ’45), Brian O’Driscoll, Mark Collins, Paul Kerrigan, Brian Hurley 0-1 each.
KILDARE
Mark Donnellan; Ollie Lyons, Ciarán Fitzpatrick, Mick O’Grady; Kevin Murnaghan, Eoin Doyle, Emmet Bolton; Tommy Moolick, Paul Cribbin; Cathal McNally, Eoghan O’Flaherty, Padraig O’Neill; Niall Kelly, Alan Smith, Eamonn Callaghan. Subs: Padraig Fogarty for Callaghan (inj. 35 minutes); Peter Kelly for O’Grady (inj, 38 minutes); Mark Sherry for O’Flaherty (black card) (50 minutes); Mikey Conway for McNally (57 minutes).
CORK
Ken O’Halloran; Stephen Cronin, Jamie O’Sullivan, Michael Shields; Conor Dorman, James Loughrey, Barry O’Driscoll; Alan O’Connor, Eoin Cadogan; Colm O’Driscoll, Mark Collins, Kevin O’Driscoll; Colm O’Neill, Donncha O’Connor, Paul Kerrigan. Subs: Brian O’Driscoll for Loughrey (black card, 9 minutes); Fintan Goold for Alan O’Connor (inj, 20 minutes); Brian Hurley for Colm O’Driscoll (half-time); Tomás Clancy for Cronin (43 minutes); John O’Rourke for Dorman (48 minutes); Donal Óg Hodnett for O’Sullivan (65 minutes).
