Kildare see red as Offaly preserve 100% record

While the league final between the sides was a lot closer, the men from the Faithful County won with the minimum of fuss as they proved a class above Kildare

Mon, 17 Apr, 2023 - 07:40

Seamus Dillon

Offaly 2-22 Kildare 3-11

Offaly made it two wins on the trot over Kildare and in doing so completed win number two of the Joe McDonagh Cup.

While the league final between the sides was a lot closer, the men from the Faithful County won with the minimum of fuss as they proved a class above a Kildare outfit that never recovered from Mark Delaney's straight red card after 11 minutes.

Killian Sampson and Adrian Cleary opened the scoring inside four minutes and despite Cian Boran and James Burke replying inside two minutes it was the only time Kildare had parity from there to the final whistle.

Eoghan Cahill, Cleary and Charlie Mitchell opened a three-point lead but when Paul Divilly created a goal chance his effort was deflected over by Ben Conneely.

Somewhere in that movement Mark Delaney was cited for an off-the-ball incident and he got a straight red.

The numerical advantage told immediately and Offaly hit 1-7 without reply. Cillian Kiely's 17th minute goal coming after three Eoghan Cahill frees. Killian Sampson and Adrian Cleary adding their second and third points respectively as Kildare struggled to get any grip on the game.

Paddy McKenna took over the free-taking duties from an out-of-sorts James Burke and he reduced the gap to 10 with 30 minutes on the clock.

Two late goals from Brian Burke and Cian Boran gave Kildare renewed hope as they headed to the dressing rooms but the 1-18 to 2-6 deficit was always going to be hard to overcome in the second half.

Kildare opened the second half with a Paddy McKenna free but three in a row from Eoghan Cahill kept the hosts at bay. Despite the advantage of a slight breeze Kildare still couldn't find their scoring boots and they brought their wide tally to 13 before ten minutes had elapsed.

Offaly put paid to any slim chance Kildare had of a revival when Eoghan Cahill goaled after a brilliant run by Paddy Clancy.

Cahill quickly added a point from play and the gap had grown to 13 with twenty still left to play.

Kildare emptied the bench and they outscored Offaly by 1-4 to 0-2 in the closing 10 minutes but it was to be too little too late.

Drew Costello, a second-half sub had the desired effect and he added a point on 56. Brian Byrne added a free on 59 minutes and when the same player was fouled inside the large square up stepped Paddy McKenna to dispatch the resultant penalty. McKenna bringing his personal tally to 1-5.

Kildare have to go back to the drawing board during the week and with the list of injuries growing they will have to face Kerry next weekend desperate for a victory. Offaly will have the opportunity to continue their winning streak and the visit of Down next Saturday looks like a prime opportunity to cement a third victory.

Kildare: P McKenna 1-5 (4 frees 1'65), N Ó Muineachain, S Leacy, C Shanahan, J Travers, R Boran, P Dolan 0-1, J Byrne, C McCabe, J Burke 1-1, G Keegan, M Delaney, B Byrne 0-1 (1 free), C Boran 1-1, C Dowling.

Subs: P Divilly 0-1 for C Dowling 7, D Qualter for P Dolan H/T, J McKeon for N Ó Muineachain 49, S Christanseen for P Divilly 52, D Costello 0-1 for J Travers 54.

Offaly: S Corcoran, B Conneely, C Burke, D King, J Screeney, J Sampson, K Sampson 0-2, C Kiely 1-4, J Keeneghan 0-1, A Cleary 0-3, J Clancy, E Cahill 1-10 (6 frees, 1 '65), D Nally, B Duignan 0-1, C Mitchell 0-1.

Subs: P Clancy for J Keeneghan 40, C Kiely for C Mitchell 53, P Delaney for J Clancy 63, J Murphy for B Duignan 63 Referee: Michael Kennedy.