Dublin with stand late flurry to take title

Dublin 0-13 Kildare 0-11

Bringing this Leinster U21 final replay to headquarters as the curtain-raiser was a brave decision, but Dublin and Kildare justified that decision, playing out another entertaining hour of excellent football.

In the dying seconds as Kildare searched manfully for the goal that would ensure they kept their hands on the Leinster title, Pierre Ennis was sprung from the bench and his direct running caused untold trouble in a Dublin defence, reeling from the 49th minute dismissal of their full-back, Willie Lowry.

He was sent off for striking James Longeran, thus cutting short the decent job he was doing on Ross Glavin.

With Kildare only trailing by a point, in the 56th minute Glavin challenged Dublin keeper Mick Savage in the air, forcing him into a mistake, the ball trickling out to James Kavanagh, who really should have done better with his shot, but his tame effort was easily stopped.

Dublin were unable to clear the danger, though, and the ball broke out to Ennis, whose goal-bound effort was halted by two Dublin defenders, flinging themselves in its path.

Dublin were excellent in the first half, everything they touched seemed to go over the bar. In the second half, against a strong breeze, they looked pedestrian but had the players to get the scores when they needed them most.

Like Bernard Brogan. He had a difficult day, contending with Ian Lonergan and indeed missed an easy enough chance before the end, to nail an insurance point. Although he made ammends a minute later, twisting away from Lonergan and firing the ball over the bar.

It was Dublin’s first half display that won this game as they only scored four points in the second half.

After Michael Conway had given Kildare the lead in the third minute, Dublin stirred into action.

They escaped in Navan, and they played like a team that knew it. Chris Moore kicked a brace of points and Kevin Leahy kicked a couple of frees to shake Kildare up.

Dublin were 0-6 to 0-1 up by the 14th minute and when Kildare analyse this game, they will look back to the four wides they kicked in swift succession mid-way through the first half, all from decent scoring positions. That was thanks, largely, to some superb defending from Dublin, Bryan Cullen in particular.

By the time Tomas O’Connor nailed Kildare’s second score in the 25th minute, the defending champions were trailing by seven points, 0-9 to 0-2. They would finish the half with a flurry, as Padraig Nolan made three substitutions before the interval, two of whom scored, but they were still five points down at the break, 0-9 to 0-4.

Kildare playing with the wind in the second half did create the chances to hold onto their title, although both Lowry and Cullen were immense in the Dublin defence. The five-point margin was always going to be difficult to bridge, particularly as Dublin always scored when they needed to.

Of course, there was no better way to end this two-game thriller than the frenetic final five minutes.

Scorers: Dublin: K Leahy (0-5, 4 frees), M Davoren, C Moore (0-2 each), J O’Brien (0-2, 1 free), D Dineen, B Brogan (0-1 each) Kildare: M Conway (0-3, 2 frees), P O’Neill, T O’Neill (0-2 each), T Archibald, D Flynn, P Doyle, T O’Connor (0-1 each)

DUBLIN: M Savage; A Downes, W Lowry, D McCann, N Cooper, B Cullen, I Ward; E Fennell, B Phelan; K Leahy, J O’Brien, C Moore, D Dineen, M Davoren, B Brogan Subs D O’Mahoney for O’Brien (41 mins), R Fallon for Cooper (53 mins), J Coughlan for Dineen (58 mins)

KILDARE: T Corley; M Hogarty, R Nevin, I Longeran, M Scanlon, M Foley, J Lonergan; H Lynch, D Flynn; T O’Neill, P O’Neill, J Kavanagh, M Conway, R Glavin, T Archibald Subs P Doyle for Scanlon (22 mins), T O’Connor for Lynch (22 mins), A Kelly for Conway (28 mins), M Conway for Archibald (49 mins), P Ennis for Kavanagh (57 mins)

Referee: P Finnegan (Louth).