Kildare 0-10
Galway 0-16
Allianz NFL Division 1
And there it ends. Kildare’s seven games in the top tier of league football finishes with seven defeats, and while this game mattered not a jot in terms of standings, a bit of encouragement could have been taken from a win. As it happened there was very little positives to take, as Kildare shot 14 wides, many of which were from crazy positions, and they never looked like winning this game.
Cian O’Neill called some of the Leinster Championship winning Moorefield contingent into the panel ahead of the game, with Eanna O’Connor starting in the forward line and Mark Dempsey among the substitutes, while James Murray was unwell during the week and unable to take his position among the replacements.
Aaron O’Neill was also drafted in for his league debut, and the Carbury teenager cut an extremely composed figure between the posts, while his booming kickouts certainly caught the eye. It was a highly impressive debut from a player who has yet to play at senior level for his club.
Mark Dempsey, Ruadhan Ó’Giollain and Daniel Courtney also made their first league appearances for the county off the bench, so this day will at least be a memorable on for them.
Galway lined out in a fashion that was almost like the GAA version of ‘Total Football’ without the entertainment of it, spreading their players around the field in an almost circular formation as players interchanged positions all the time. While they lacked thrust for long periods, they did manage to break the lines on enough occasions to put Kildare to the sword.
They were in behind the Lilywhites backline in the opening two minutes when Patrick Sweeney broke through and blazed over, and the same player doubled their advantage two minutes later.
Kildare responded with a couple of scores as O’Connor opened their account through a free and Tommy Moolick slotted over from close range following a fine Crossfield pass from Eamonn Callaghan.
The visitors took control of the game for a spell after that however, and midfielder Eoin Finnerty broke through the lines to clip over a close range score before Johnny Duane angled over a lovely effort from 40 metres out. Padraic Cunningham stretched their lead to three points, and Galway were full value for their lead after dominating possession and territory for the opening quarter hour.
Kildare offered some response as another huge kickout from Aaron O’Neill landed near the Galway ’45 and was knocked on to Callaghan, and he teed up Jimmy Hyland to slot over to mark his first start in a Kildare jersey with a point.
There could have been a goal at the other end when the ball fumbled into the path of Sean Kelly, but the lively corner-forward angled his shot narrowly wide as O’Neill closed down on him. They did manage three points in a row after that however, with Seán Armstrong knocking over a free before Kelly showed his technique with a couple of lovely scores from tight angles.
The home side did at least finish the half strongly as O’Connor raised a white flag with a good strike from the left wing and Johnny Byrne floated over a long range score following a brilliant crossfield pass from Paul Cribbin.
Galway walked out onto the field in a languid style for the beginning of the second half in a manner that suggested that they weren’t all that interested, and with the scores finely poised at 0-8 to 0-5, there was plenty of incentive for Kildare to get on top.
That didn’t happen however, and Galway nailed three points within four minutes of the restart that effectively put the tie to bed. Armstrong curled over a wonderful effort before half-time substitute Shane Walsh split the posts with a free off the ground, and Armstrong added another to stretch the gap to six points.
Kildare’s best score of the game arrived in the 42nd minute when Paul Cribbin landed an audacious point from out on the right wing, but it was one of a number of speculative efforts that were taken on by Kildare players in the second half, and one of the only ones that went over.
Cunningham and Brophy traded points at either end after that, before substitute Frankie Burke launched over a superb effort from distance to widen the gap between the sides to five points.
Kildare threatened a comeback briefly as another debutant, Daniel Courtney raided up the right wing to hit the target, and they came close to goal when Fionn Dowling and Kevin Flynn both had shots blocked. The margin was just three points when O’Connor pierced the posts with a ’45, but Galway rallied with scores from Adrian Varley and Cian D’Arcy to ease towards home.
There were flashpoints at the end as a number of players wrestled each other on the ground – not uncommon in games involving Galway – but the game concluded without much excitement for the small crowd in Newbridge.
Scorers for Kildare: E O'Connor 0-4(1f, 1'45), J Byrne, P Cribbin, D Courtney, T Moolick, J Hyland and P Brophy 0-1 each.
Scorers for Galway: S Armstrong 0-3(1f), S Kelly, P Cunningham and P Sweeney 0-2 each, F Burke, A Varley, S Walsh(1f), M Daly, C D'Arcy and E Finnerty 0-1 each.
Kildare
Aaron O'Neill;
Peter Kelly, David Hyland, Mark Hyland;
Keith Cribbin;
Johnny Byrne, Eoin Doyle, Kevin Flynn;
Paul Cribbin, Tommy Moolick;
Fergal Conway, Eanna O'Connor, Paddy Brophy;
Eamonn Callaghan, Jimmy Hyland.
Subs used: Mark Dempsey for M Hyland HT, Fionn Dowling for Conway 45mins, David Slattery for Callaghan 52mins, Daniel Courtney for Byrne 55mins, Ruadhan Ó'Giollain 68mins.
Galway
Ruairí Lavelle;
Evan Wynne, Declan Kyne, David Wynne;
Gary O'Donnell, Johnny Duane, Gareth Bradshaw;
Eoin Finnerty, Ciarán Duggan;
Thomas Flynn, Eamonn Brannigan, Adrian Varley;
Patrick Sweeney, Seán Armstrong, Padraic Cunningham.
Subs used: Shane Walsh for Kelly HT, Frankie Burke for Sweeney 46mins, Cian D'Arcy for Armstrong 57mins, Michael Daly for Finnerty 53mins, Adrian Varley for Cunningham 67mins,
If you have a story or want to send photos or videos to us please contact the KildareNow editorial team. via our Facebook, via our email at content@kildarenow.com or on 045 409350 during office hours.
