Bolton the hero as Lilywhites beat Limerick in extra time thriller

Kildare 0-19 Limerick 0-12 (after extra time)

The final scoreline did little justice to the tremendous efforts of Limerick, who led for so much of this encounter before being clawed back by Kildare to force extra time.

This pulsating tie was a credit to both sides but you had to feel for the Shannonsiders, who had contributed so much, and were three points clear with 20 minutes of normal time remaining. Crucially though, they didn’t score for another 32 minutes and by that stage, the bird had flown.

Emmet Bolton was the hero for Kildare, slotting a sensational 70th minute equaliser, having run almost the length of the field and made at least a couple of one-twos before calmly saving his side’s bacon.

Limerick had been forced into extra time in beating Longford last week and those extra 20 minutes of action clearly told as they tired visibly.

They were no match for Kildare in extra time and with the inspirational Doyle electing to play with the wind, they put the game to bed with six points in the opening ten-minute period.

They key was the final quarter of normal time though, with Limerick failing to score from the time Brian Scanlon pushed them 0-11 to 0-8 clear with 20 minutes remaining.

Kildare were workmanlike but they chipped away. The inspirational Doyle lofted over a free before Kavanagh found the mark, seconds after Seanie Johnston had appeared to point. That effort had been waved wide though and it looked as if Limerick might hold out.

That was until Kavanagh forced a turnover deep inside his own half and Bolton went off on a dazzling surge that involved a couple of one-twos. He took the final pass from Peter Kelly and held his nerve well to the relief of the majority of the 11,345 people that confirmed the wisdom of the decision to switch the tie from St Conleth’s Park.

From there, it was plain sailing, the brilliant Foley, Paidi O’Neill and Johnston amongst those on the mark.

Limerick had Paudie Browne as a sweeper, enabling Stephen Lucey to commit himself fully to Tomás O’Connor, who after a bright start was subsequently withdrawn.

They were very competitive around the park with Seamus O’Carroll coming deep to leave Ian Ryan and Ger Collins in a dangerous looking inside forward line. And Ryan certainly made the best of the space early on, causing former All-Star defender, Peter Kelly untold problems.

Having wasted a good opportunity earlier on, Eoghan O’Flaherty opened the scoring from an eighth minute free into the wind and Kildare were so close to a goal just two minutes later but Bolton was unable to get at the end of Kavanagh’s exquisite pass.

Ryan equalised from the next attack and then blasted over under pressure from Kelly, after the Kildare man had misjudged the flight of a diagonal delivery.

Smith clipped over to restore parity, and there was a further exchange of scores between Ryan and Kavanagh before Limerick edged two clear courtesy of a brace of Ryan frees.

He had another effort waved wide that he vehemently argued was between the posts and the mood wouldn’t have been helped as Mikey Conway sent over a rare right-footed effort.

But it was Limerick that finished the stronger. Stephen Kelly made amends for an earlier miss with a wonderful point that followed the accomplished rugby player’s own version of the David Campese goose-step. Substitute Damian Quaid lofted over from 40m just before the short whistle and the Shannonsiders led at the interval by 0-7 to 0-4.

Kildare flew out of the traps with early points from Rob Kelly and Foley, but Limerick were not retreating into their shell. Ryan and Ger Collins responded, while Eoghan O’Connor lofted over a brilliant point and John Riordan blazed across the face of goal.

It was time for Johnston but the former Cavan man was offered little latitude as Limerick continued to defend impressively, while Kildare became increasingly and understandably frustrated by the manner in which the free count was going against them.

In the end though, it was the veterans Doyle, Foley and Bolton that shone and Kildare booked an encounter with Connacht finalists Sligo.

Scorers – Kildare: M Conway (2fs); J Kavanagh 0-3 each; J Doyle (fs), S Johnston 0-2 each; A Smith, R Kelly, M Foley, E Bolton, E O’Flaherty(f), P O’Neill, M O’Flaherty, E Doyle 0-1 each

Limerick: I Ryan 0-8(5fs); S Kelly, D Quaid, G Collins, E O’Connor 0-1 each

Kildare: S Connolly; P Kelly, H McGrillen, O Lyons; E Bolton, M O’Flaherty, E Doyle; M Foley, R Kelly; E O’Flaherty, J Doyle, M Conway; A Smith, T O’Connor, J Kavanagh. Subs: P O’Neill for R Kelly (48); S Johnston for E O’Flaherty (48); P Fogarty for O’Connor (56); E Callaghan for Smith (66); G White for Bolton inj (74); A Mac Lochlainn for Lyons inj (74); E O’Flaherty for M O’Flaherty inj (80)

Limerick: B Scanlon; A Lane, S Lucey, J McCarthy; J Riordan, L O’Dwyer, P Ranahan; J Donovan, S Buckley; E O’Connor, S Kelly, P Browne; G Collins, S O’Carroll, I Ryan. Subs: D Quaid for Lane (22); I Corbett for O’Carroll (51); B O’Brien for Donovan (54); J O’Meara for Kelly (61); J Cooke for Collins (68); S Kelly for Riordan (83)

Referee: B Cassidy (Derry)