Kildare 1-25
Antrim 0-14
Robert Cribbin reports from Corrigan Pakk
KILDRARE GOT THEIR summer back on track with a facile All-Ireland SFC qualifier victory over Antrim in Corrigan Park.
Kildare came into the game on the back of a heavy defeat at the hands of Dublin in the Leinster semi-final but they were much too good for Antrim on the day.
Adam Tyrrell and Neil Flynn scored 0-15 between them and along with Fergal Conway they were the stars in victory for Cian O’Neill’s outfit.
Antrim never led as Kildare showed the gulf between the sides in the end.
Kildare wasted no time in getting acquainted to the picturesque venue of Corrigan Park as they kicked the opening three points of the game with a long range free from Flynn followed by two Tyrrell efforts with the Moorefield man’s first score coming from a wayward Antrim kickout.
It took nine minutes for Antrim to get on the board but they very nearly found the net when a long ball in the direction of the Kildare square was flicked towards the goal by Stephen Beatty but his attempt went too high.
Patrick McBride looked lively for the Saffrons up front and he soon reduced the gap with a point from a difficult angle.
The sides then exchanged scores with Mick O’Grady getting forward for Kildare with James McAuley responding in kind.
Cian O’Neill’s side did suffer a blow when Chris Healy was black carded for an apparent third man tackle but with the introduction of Jimmy Hyland, Kildare duly scored seven points in-a-row.
Flynn and Tyrrell were causing pandemonium in the Antrim defence and the two combined for a couple of efforts with Flynn landing three and Tyrrell two in a storming period of football for the visitors.
Kevin Feely was also on target while Keith Cribbin looked on for goal before he had an effort well blocked.
Antrim were staring down the depths of despair but they added on two Conor Murray frees either side of a McBride score.
Kildare were well worth their lead though and Flynn and Jimmy Hyland kicked scores before the end of the half as Kildare went into the interval with a 0-13 to 0-6 advantage.
Antrim threw out their rather defensive tactics at the start of the second half and it worked briefly with points coming from Conor Murray and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
A goal is what the Northerners needed however and unfortunately for them it was their opposition that got it, with Fergal Conway rattling the net minutes after Flynn and Jimmy Hyland kicked points.
It was all plain sailing from there for Kildare with Tyrrell, Flynn, Conway and Kevin Feely all kicking points at their leisure.
McBride finished with six points for Antrim and they stayed competitive to the end but it was Kildare’s day as subs Tommy Moolick and Jason Gibbons emerged from the bench to put the gloss on the fourteen point success.
Scorers for Kildare: Neil Flynn 0-8 (0-3fs), Adam Tyrrell 0-7 (0-4fs), Fergal Conway 1-2, Jimmy Hyland 0-3, Kevin Feely 0-2, Mick O’Grady 0-1, Tommy Moolick 0-1, Jason Gibbons 0-1.
Scorers for Antrim: Patrick McBride 0-6, Matthew Fitzpatrick 0-3, Ryan Murray 0-2 (0-1f), Conor Murray 0-1, Stephen Beatty 0-1, James McAuley 0-1
Kildare
1. Mark Donnellan
2. Mark Dempsey
3. Mick O’Grady
4. Peter Kelly
5. Cian O’Donoghue
6. Eoin Doyle
7. David Hyland
8. Kevin Feely
9. Fergal Conway
10. David Slattery
11. Chris Healy
12. Keith Cribbin
13. Adam Tyrrell
14. Ben McCormack
15. Neil Flynn
Subs
18. Jimmy Hyland for Healy (Black Card) — 13 mins
17. Tommy Moolick for Cribbin — HT
19. Eoghan O’Flaherty for Slattery — 43 mins
22. Mark Hyland for O’Donoghue — 47 mins
21. Conor Hartley for Kelly — 53 mins
25. Jason Gibbons for Tyrrell — 56 mins.
Antrim
1. Padraig Nugent
2. Patrick McCormick
3. Ricky Johnston
4. Patrick Gallagher
5. Declan Lynch
17. Martin Johnston
7. Niall Delargy
8. Colum Duffin
9. Kevin Quinn
10. James McAuley
11. Matthew Fitzpatrick
12. Stephen Beatty
13. Ryan Murray
14. Patrick Mc Bride
23. Conor Murray
Subs
22. Ruairi Scott for Quinn — HT
15. Eunan Walsh for Johnston — HT
19. Ryan McNulty for Duffin — 52 mins
26. James Smith for Murray — 56 mins
25. Fintan Burke for Delargy — 63 mins.
Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan)
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