Kildare 1-20
Offaly 0-11
Kevin Egan reports from the Faithful Fields, Kilcormac
KILDARE RECORDED THEIR second comfortable O’Byrne Cup win in the space of a week as a devastating second quarter performance swatted aside a feeble Offaly challenge at the Faithful Fields in Kilcormac tonight.
The Faithful County were competitive in the early stages and while Jimmy Hyland further rubber-stamped his underage credentials with an outstanding performance at one end of the field, Offaly forwards Shane Tierney and Johnny Moloney kicked a couple of points each to keep in touch, with Kildare leading 0-6 to 0-4 by the 15-minute mark.
For the remainder of the first half, Kildare were devastating. They fired 1-8 without reply, all six forwards got on the scoresheet from play, and once Padraig Fogarty poked in a scrappy goal before half time, they were 13 points to the good and in the driving seat.
In a game where most of Offaly debutants struggled to keep pace with a Kildare side that featured a healthy mix of Super 8 footballers and All-Ireland U-20 winners, regular championship starters Bernard Allen and John Moloney took the fight to Kildare in the second half and they outscored the Lily Whites by 0-7 to 0-6 in the second period.
However Cian O’Neill was able to empty his bench and he got scoring contributions from Aaron Masterson, David Malone and Fionn Dowling, further emphasising the depth available to the Kildare manager this year.
Scorers for Kildare: J Hyland 0-6 (0-2f, 0-1m), P Fogarty 1-2 (0-1 ’45), A Tyrrell 0-4 (0-2f), E O’Flaherty & B McCormack 0-2 each, P Nash, F Dowling, D Malone, A Masterson 0-1 each.
Scorers for Offaly: B Allen 0-4 (0-2f), J Moloney & S Tierney (0-2f) 0-3 each, A Sullivan 0-1.
Kildare
1. Mark Donnellan (Maynooth)
2. John O’Toole (Monasterevan)
3. Mark Barrett (Monasterevan)
4. DJ Earley (Monasterevan)
5. Jason Gibbons (Kilcock)
7. James Murray (Moorefield)
18. Keith Cribbin (Johnstownbridge)
8. Paul Cribbin (Johnstownbridge)
9. Tommy Moolick (Leixlip)
12. Eoghan O’Flaherty (Carbury)
11. Padraig Nash (Monasterevan)
10. Adam Tyrrell (Moorefield)
13. Jimmy Hyland (Ballyteague)
14. Ben McCormack (Sarsfields)
15. Padraig Fogarty (St. Laurence’s)
Subs:
Brian McLoughlin (Clane) for McCormack (HT)
Fionn Dowling (Suncroft) for P Cribbin (HT)
David Malone (Raheens) for K Cribbin (HT)
Neil Flynn (Maynooth) for Hyland (39)
Paschal Connell (Athy) for O’Flaherty (45)
Aaron Masterson (Moorefield) for Moolick (47)
O’Flaherty for Nash (53), Moolick for Fogarty (62).
Offaly
1. Barry Rohan (Shannonbridge)
2. Declan Hogan (Tullamore)
19. Eoin Rigney (Rhode)
3. David Dempsey (Ballycommon)
5. Cian Donohoe (St Brigid’s)
6. Paul McConway (Tullamore)
7. Joseph O’Connor (St Rynagh’s)
8. Cathal Mangan (Kilclonfert)
9. Aaron Leavy (Tullamore)
10. Nigel Bracken (Tullamore)
11. Anton Sullivan (Rhode)
12. Ruairi McNamee (Rhode)
13. Bernard Allen (Tubber)
14. Johnny Moloney (Tullamore)
15. Shane Tierney (Daingean)
Subs:
Mark Abbott (Edenderry) for McNamee (HT)
David Fleming (Clara) for Bracken (44)
Kyle Higgins (Ferbane) for Mangan (49)
PJ Daly (Cappincur) for O’Connor (53)
Conor Carroll (Raheen) for Leavy (55)
McNamee for Sullivan (63).
Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois)
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