Glass sees red but Derry dig deep in Kildare

The visitors' talisman was dismissed early on for an off-the-ball incident. 

Shane McGuigan of Derry tries to get away from Kevin Feely of Kildare. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

DERRY 3-15 KILDARE 1-18 

Despite the sixth-minute sending-off of captain and talisman Conor Glass, Derry recorded a superb win in Cedral St Conleths Park in an incident-packed game.

Glass’ dismissal for an off-the-ball clash with Callum Bolton was just the start of the action in horrendous conditions and Derry had a nine-minute spell in the first half with just 12 players on the field.

Kildare led by five early in the second half but the game swung on two goals inside 60 seconds in the 38th minute, the first of those an absolute wondergoal by Paul Cassidy.

That goal was followed by a more mundane close range effort by Lachlan Murray and once in front, Derry didn’t relinquish their lead.

Derry had started well and had three points on the board inside the opening 90 seconds but after Glass’ dismissal, Kildare got on top and led 0-4 to 0-3. The excellent Shane McGuigan scored a two pointer and then a 16th minute goal but Derry didn’t score in the remainder of the half despite having the advantage of a strong wind.

After Niall Loughlin was shown a 23rd black card, there was another flashpoint shortly after that ended with a red for Kildare’s Alex Beirne and a black for Conor Doherty , and it was 14 against 12.

Led by the superb Ben Loakman, who scored four points in the first half and finished with ten, Kildare fought back and edged their way in front and eventually led 1-10 to 1-6 at the break following a fortunate 33rd minute goal by Brian McLoughlin.

A Loakman free early in the second half put Kildare five clear but the game swung on Cassidy’s brilliant strike. He ran from almost the halfway line and while Kildare were slow to get a hand on him, he kept going and in the end fired a rocket of a shot into the top corner.

Half-time substitute Matthew Downey teed up Murray then less than a minute later and there were further points from McGuigan and Murray as they scored 2-2 in a decisive spell.

Two Loakman two pointers in the second half twice got Kildare back to within a point but every time Kildare got within touching distance, Derry were able to come down and reply with a point of their own.

In the end, a game that was played at a frantic pace in pouring rain, sleet and snow for 65 minutes fizzled out as Derry methodically saw out the game by keeping possession against a tiring Kildare.

After waiting so long for a win before their second round victory over Tyrone, the manner of this one meant the final hooter was greeted with huge cheers from the sizeable travelling Derry support as their management team and players celebrated on the pitch.

Scorers for Derry - S McGuigan 1-5 (1tp, 1f), L Murray 1-3, P Cassidy 1-0, N Loughlin 0-3, C Doherty 0-3 (1tp), M Downey 0-1.

Kildare – B Loakman 0-10 (2tp, 2fs), B McLoughlin 1-2, C Bolton 0-2, E Cully 0-2, C Moran 0-1, N Flynn 0-1.

DERRY: Shea McGuckin; Diarmuid Baker, Ruairi Forbes, Sean Young; Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan; Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers; Ethan Doherty, Shea Downey, Paul Cassidy; Niall Loughlin, Shane McGuigan, Lachlan Murray. Subs: Matthew Downey for Young , h/t; Niall Toner for S Downey, 54; Conor McAteer for Loughlin, 66.

KILDARE: Cian Burke; Harry O'Neill, Padraic Spillane, Ryan Burke; James Harris, Eoin Lawlor, Brian Byrne; Kevin Feely, Brendan Gibbons; Brian McLoughlin, Callum Bolton, Colm Moran; Ben Loakman, Alex Beirne, Eoin Cully. Subs: Darragh Kirwan for Moran, 43; Jack McKevitt for Harris, 48; Sam Doran for Feely, 59; Neil Flynn for McLoughlin, 58; James McGrath for O'Neill, 65.

REFEREE: David Gough, Meath.