Kildare 1-11
Tipperary 2-7
Kildare held off a Tipperary comeback to take a one-point victory in Division 2 of the National Football League at Newbridge this afternoon.
Kildare looked to be cruising to victory when they led by eight points at half-time thanks to a well taken Fergal Conway goal but despite Tipperary only scoring one point from play until the 55th minute, the Premier County came bouncing back.
Goals in the 60th and 70th minutes from Dan O’Meara and Liam Boland brought Tipp level but Kildare found another gear with stoppage time points from Neil Flynn and Adam Tyrrell getting them over the line.
The result means Kildare are still in the hunt for a place in the top two but Tipperary are still unsure of safety ahead of the final weekend. Kildare did look bright in the early stages when they kicked two points in the opening four minutes with a Neil Flynn free getting things rolling before Tommy Moolick kicked a lovely effort from play off the outside of his right foot.
Tipperary got on the board in the 9th minute with a Liam McGrath free but it was a rare attack as Kildare dominated the ball for the vast majority of the half.
Kildare eventually broke a barren scoring period with a Kevin Feely score from play and Neil Flynn then kicked two quickfire points to leave Kildare with a four-point lead. Tipperary responded with a point from Liam Casey but it was Kildare who ended the half the better as they hit 1-2 on the trot.
Tipperary were bringing a lot of bodies back but after great patience Kildare eventually broke the line to get a goal with Peter Kelly playing a ball behind the Tipperary defence and Fergal Conway latched onto it to place a shot past Evan Comerford.
That gave Kildare a rather comfortable 1-5 to 0-2 lead and they kicked two further points with both Feely and Jimmy Hyland on target to give Cian O’Neill’s men an eight point advantage at the interval.
Chris Healy was making his first appearance of the year for Kildare after being club tied with Two Mile House and he kicked a lovely score from near the sideline in the opening play of the half before it was quickly cancelled out by a free from Conor Sweeney.
Neil Flynn then pushed the lead back out to nine points with a good point from out wide after selling his man an audacious dummy to work space for himself.
Sweeney quickly hit back with a free and Tipp then got a bit of momentum going with Sweeney kicking his third free of the half and the Premier County got even more inspiration when sub Liam Boland rattled a shot int the top corner in the 60 th minute after Michael Quinlivan had originally saw a shot parried by Mark Donnellan.
The visitors got their second goal in the 70 th minute to get back within a point when Dan O’Meara forced a shot past Mark Donnellan after Kevin Feely had earlier given away possession.
The teams were then level with a Brian Fox score in the last minute. To their credit though Kildare dug extremely deep to get the desired result with Adam Tyrrell kicking a monstrous point from distance before Neil Flynn added a 45.
Liam Boland scored a point in response with the last kick of the game but Kildare survived to rubberstamp a crucial victory.
Scorers for Kildare: Neil Flynn 0-5 (0-2fs, 0-1 45), Fergal Conway 1-0, Kevin Feely 0-2, Tommy Moolick 0-1, Chris Healy 0-1, Jimmy Hyland 0-1, Adam Tyrrell 0-1.
Scorers for Tipperary: Liam Boland 1-1, Conor Sweeney 0-3 (0-3fs), Dan O’Meara 1-0, Liam McGrath 0-1 (0-1f), Brian Fox 0-1, Liam Casey 0-1.
Kildare:
1. Mark Donnellan (Maynooth)
2. David Hyland (Athy)
3.Mick O’Grady (Celbridge)
4. Mark Hyland (Athy)
5. Cian O’Donoghue (Clane)
6. Eoin Doyle (Naas)
7. Peter Kelly (Two Mile House)
8. Kevin Feely (Athy)
9. Tommy Moolick (Leixlip)
10. Fergal Conway (Celbridge)
14. Chris Healy (Two Mile House)
12. Keith Cribbin (Johnstownbridge)
13. Neil Flynn (Maynooth)
11. Paddy Brophy (Celbridge)
15. Jimmy Hyland (Ballyteague)
Subs:
19. Adam Tyrrell (Moorefield) for Cribbin 47
23. Kevin Flynn (Celbridge) for Healy 56
20. Fionn Dowling (Suncroft) for Brophy 57
22. James Murray (Moorefield) for O’Donoghue 64
21. Aaron Masterson (Moorefield) for Conway 68
Tipperary:
1. Evan Comerford (Kilsheelan-Kilcash)
2. Alan Campbell (Moyle Rovers)
3. John Meagher (Loughmore Castleiney)
4. Emmet Moloney (Drom and Inch)
19. Colm O’Shaughnessy (Ardfinnan)
6. Daire Brennan (Kilsheelan-Kilcash)
7. Jimmy Feehan (Killenaule)
8. Steven O’Brien (Ballina)
9. Liam Casey (Cahir)
18. Michael Quinlivan (Clonmel Commercials)
11. Liam McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney)
12. Brian Fox, (Eire Og Annacarty- Donohill)
13.Phillip Austin (Borrisokane)
14.Conor Sweeney (Ballyporeen)
15. Jack Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials)
Subs:
23. Paul Maher (Kilsheelan-Kilcash) for Austin 50
26. Liam Boland for Casey 58
22.Paudie Feehan (Killenaule) for J.Feehan 61
10.Dan O’Meara (Kiladangan) for Moloney 64
Ref: Noel Mooney