Kildare made to work for win

Kildare 1-14 Meath 1-12

Kildare continued their improvement this term with a hard-fought victory over Meath in Newbridge this afternoon.

The win strengthens their hopes of promotion from Division 2 and forces the Royals deeper into the relegation mire.

The winners were probably value for more than their two-point winning margin and had some mighty performers in Mick Foley, Gary White, Padraig O’Neill, Ronan Sweeney and Johnny Doyle.

It was the performance of Rob Kelly that was the highlight of proceedings though, with each of the Straffan man’s four points from play coming right out of the top drawer.

He also had a hand in at least four other scores either as a provider or by being fouled for converted frees and proved a constant menace on the edge of the Meath square.

The Royals remain shorn of many key players and Seamus McEnaney was satisfied with what he considered to be his new side’s best performance of the Division 2 campaign.

With Graham and Kevin Reilly returning to training on Tuesday and Stephen Bray coming back from his honeymoon, they will be a stronger proposition in the weeks to come.

They began reasonably well and were two points up courtesy of a Joe Sheridan 45 and a neat Brian Farrell finish before Eoghan O’Flaherty got the winners off the mark from a 45 in the 13th minute.

Kildare had begun to get on top around midfield though by the time Doyle struck for a 23rd minute goal to give them a lead they never relinquished.

It was White who began the attack with a long ball which Sweeney flicked on astutely to Kelly. Emmet Bolton arrived on Kelly’s shoulder to take the pass and he drew Shane McAnarney before offloading to Doyle who finished to the roof of the net with his left boot.

O’Flaherty converted a free before Kelly curled a magnificent point off his left from the left-hand side and Kildare led at the break by 1-5 to 0-5.

Cian Ward was introduced by McEnaney at the interval and he kicked a couple of early points from frees but with Sweeney, Kelly and O’Neill all notching up excellent points at the other end, Kildare were looking comfortable with a four-point lead and 13 minutes remaining.

Meath were thrown a lifeline in the 58th minute though, when Joe Sheridan intercepted an intended clearance from Hugh McGrillen and made the most of a two-on-one situation to release Shane O’Rourke, who slid to the net and suddenly it was game on at 1-10 top 1-9.

Kildare’s response was impressive though and with Fionn Dowling outstanding as an outlet for his suppliers, they managed to carve out some excellent opportunities.

White, Sweeney and James Kavanagh all raised white flags and though Farrell and Paddy O’Rourke got ones back, Meath never really looked getting something from the game.

Kildare: S Connolly; A Mac Lochlainn, M Foley, H McGrillen; E Bolton, B Flanagan, G White 0-1; T Moolick, R Sweeney 0-2; E O’Flaherty 0-2 (1 45, 1f), P O’Neill 0-1, K Cribbin; J Doyle 1-3 (0-3fs), D Flynn, R Kelly 0-4. Subs: J Kavanagh 0-1 for Moolick (45); D Whyte for Flanagan (49); F Dowling for Cribbin (56); M O’Flaherty for Bolton (58)

Meath: B Murphy; E Harrington, C King, S McAnarney; G O’Brien, B Menton, C McGuinness; B Meade, N Crawford; P Gilsenan 0-1, S O’Rourke 1-1 (0-1f), S Kenny 0-1; B Farrell 0-2 (1f), J Sheridan 0-2 (1 45), B Sheridan. Subs: C Ward 0-4 (fs) for B Sheridan (ht); A Moyles for Kenny inj (47); M Ward for Crawford (54); A Nestor for Harrington (58); P O’Rourke 0-1 for Gilsenan (68).

Referee: Marty Duffy (Sligo).