Kildare the winners despite draw

A DRAW in Newbridge, but Kildare were the undisputed winners after a result that sees them, and not Laois, progress to the semi-finals.

A bumper crowd of 14,000 filed into St Conleth’s Park anticipating a ding-dong derby and they weren’t disappointed by a riveting tussle that saw the teams level on 11 occasions.

All afternoon, the two mirrored each other’s footsteps. Where Laois kicked nine wides, Kildare kicked eight. While Laois picked up five yellows, Kildare earned four. Five of Laois’ starting forwards kicked at least one score. Kildare’s did the same.

It was that tight.

“It’s a win in everything but name,” said Kildare manager John Crofton. “I was conscious all the time that a draw would do us but the heart missed a beat a few times towards the end.”

It will be Kildare’s first appearance in the last four of the NFL since 1991 when they reached the final in Mick O’Dwyer’s first year in charge and Crofton was in bullish humour with regard to their chances of winning the county’s first league crown.

“We’ve now got a game in the knockout stages of a national competition which we haven’t come close to since 2000. We have an opportunity to get into a National League final. Mayo and Donegal seems to be the stronger group but we certainly won’t belacking in confidence after ourcampaign.”

They are certainly a team on the up. Though John Doyle was again their chief scorer yesterday, he was well supported by his peers with Tadhg Fennin’s three points an indication that the veteran corner-forward is returning to his best.

Their midfield duo of Killian Brennan and Kevin O’Neill claimed 52% of the possession from kick-outs against Pauric Clancy and Noel Garvan and Laois were made work for most of their 13 scores by some dogged home defending.

Crofton has used his 18 months in charge to blood a handful of youngsters and, with two draws and their biggest win this spring being by a three-point margin, they are clearly adept at grinding out results.

They had the best of this game for long spells, enjoying an excellent start before being pegged back and overtaken by Colm Parkinson who capped a superb pass from Brian McDonald with a low finish under Enda Murphy and into the net.

Laois played with real pep in their step for the next few minutes and went two points ahead briefly when Chris Conway added on a point but that was to be the biggest lead either side would enjoy all day.

Kildare responded well and drew level three times in four minutes before Fennin’s first point handed them the lead and the psychological advantage before the break.

Up until that, Laois had won the lion’s share of possession at midfield but the roles were reversed on the turnaround with Kildare winning eight consecutive kick-outs midway through the second period.

The result was that Laois were the ones playing catch up for most of the half with Liam Kearns’ men relying on speedy breaks for their scores — three of them coming from full-forward Paul Lawlor.

With so much at stake, it was no real shock when a minor scuffle broke out with seven minutes to go but both sides regained their senses and returned to the business of playing football before too long.

McDonald restored parity for the eleventh and last time in the last minute but the same player blotted his exemplary copybook by kicking a bad wide seconds later when he seemed odds on to score.

“We just came up short,” said Kearns. “We had to win the game. We had a couple of good chances at the finish which I thought we probably should gave taken but didn’t, but there was some good scores from both sides.”

Three draws ultimately cost Laois their place in the knockout stages but they have shown enough this season to suggest that they will be a main player in the Leinster Championship in the months to come.

Kearns’ disappointment was tempered by his side’s ability to eke out some manner of a positive result despite the absences of key figures such as Ross Munnelly, Brendan Quigley, MJ Tierney, Aidan Fennelly and Tom Kelly.

“I would like to pay tribute to my panel because we had ten players not togged out tonight,” said Kearns. “We had 22 players fit and, in the circumstances, they have done a great job in securing Division One status and coming within a kick of a ball of a semi-final.

“Kildare were missing the likes of Dermot Earley and one or two more so I am sure they would say it was 15 against 15 out there but I’m happy enough with the way the league has gone. I’m proud of what my squad has done in this league campaign.”

KILDARE: E Murphy; E Callaghan, D Lyons, A McLoughlin; A Rainbow, M Hogarty (0-1), E Bolton (0-1); K Brennan, K O’Neill (0-1); J Kavanagh (0-1), J Doyle (0-4, 1f), K Donnelly (0-2); T Fennin (0-3, 1f), J Phillips, P O’Neill (0-1).

Subs: T O’Connor (0-1) for Donnelly 52, M Scanlon for Rainbow 65, B Flanagan for Fennin 72.

LAOIS: F Byron; P McMahon, C Ryan, J Higgins; P O’Leary, D Rooney, B McCormack; P Clancy (0-1), N Garvan; C Bergin (0-1), C Conway (0-1), D Murphy; C Parkinson (1-0), P Lawlor (0-3), B McDonald (0-5, 2f).

Subs: B Brennan (0-1) for Bergin 49, C Meaney for Murphy 60.

Referee: M Meade (Limerick).