Kildare 1-16
Westmeath 1-3
KILDARE QUALIFIED FOR their second EirGrid Leinster U21 FC final in a row thanks to a comfortable win over Westmeath in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise this evening.
In what was a repeat of the Leinster minor final from three years ago, Kildare bossed the game in the opening quarter.
Con Kavanagh got the scoring underway and with Chris Healy and Ben McCormack particularly dangerous in the full-forward line, they raced into a 0-7 to 0-0 lead.
Jack Quinn stopped the rot for Westmeath when he poked home a goal on 17 minutes and they improved somewhat after that with Darren Giles and Paddy Fagan pointing.
Still, Kildare tacked on a couple of points themselves and were 0-9 to 1-2 up at the break.
The second half was a formality for Kildare and they outscored a disappointing Westmeath side by 1-7 to 0-1, the goal coming from a Neil Flynn penalty with three minutes remaining after he was pulled down himself.
Kildare will play Dublin or Laois in the Leinster final on Wednesday, 30 March. Dublin and Laois meet at 2pm on Saturday in Parnell Park.
Scorers for Kildare: Neil Flynn 1-5 (1-0 penalty, 0-4 frees), Ben McCormack 0-4, Con Kavanagh and Chris Healy 0-3 each, Rory Feely 0-1.
Scorers for Westmeath: Jack Quinn 1-0, Robert Hickey (free), Paddy Fagan and Darren Giles 0-1 each
Kildare
1. Declan Campbell (Raheens)
2. Eoghan Bateman (Naas)
3. Darren Maguire (Maynooth)
4. Paul Mescall (Maynooth)
5. Ryan Houlihan (Moorefield)
6. Shea Ryan (Sarsfields)
7. Brian Byrne (Naas)
8. Luke Flynn (Johnstownbridge)
9. Paschal Connell (Athy)
10. Conor Hartley (Sarsfields)
11. Barry Kelly (Athy)
20. Con Kavanagh (Sarsfields)
13. Ben McCormack (Sarsfields)
14. Chris Healy (Two Mile House)
15. Neil Flynn (Maynooth)
Subs
22. Cian McMonagle (Clogherinkoe) for Kelly (half time)
17. Mark Hyland (Athy) for Bateman (38)
24. Rory Feely (Athy) for Hartley (44)
18. Jamie Flynn (Round Towers) for Houlihan (58)
19. John Costello (Celbridge) for Byrne (58)
21. Conor Delahunty (Sarsfields) for Mcormack (59)
Westmeath
1. Kevin Fagan (Tubberclair)
2. Ronan Wallace (Multyfarnham)
3. Isreal Illunga (Rosemount)
4. Linus Sayeh (Rosemount)
5. Gavin Murray (Moate All Whites)
6. Andrew McCormack (Rosemount)
7. Daire Conway (Shandonagh)
8.Gavin Delaney (Tubberclair)
12. Theo Watts (Rosemount)
17. Rob Hickey (Caulry)
21. Jack Quinn (Athlone)
9.Sam Duncan (Milltownpass)
10. Shane Corcoran (Milltownpass)
13. Darren Giles (Coralstown-Kinnegad)
15. Paddy Fagan (Mullingar Shamrocks)
Subs
18. Anthony McGivney (Multyfarnham) for Wallace (18)
20. Michael Monaghan (Garrycastle) for Giles (37)
11. Ruairi Cunningham (Moate All Whites) Murray (43)
22. Joe Halligan (Milltown) for Corcoran (50)
14. Niall Mitchell (The Downs) for Watts (51)
25. Ian McGovern (Multyfarnham) for Hickey (53)
Referee: Stephen Murphy (Louth)
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