Donegal 1-20
Kildare 0-10
Allianz National Football League Division 2 Round 7
Kildare’s promotion hopes went up in smoke in Ballyshannon as Donegal easily got the better of them to mark their return to Division 1 at the first time of asking.
In contrast to the corresponding fixture last year which went to the wire, Donegal were much the better side throughout and from the get go they were never really in any danger.
It brings an end to a desperately disappointing League campaign for Kildare where they underperformed in a number of games and Cian O’Neill will have a fair job in lifting the spirits of a team that look bereft of confidence before the Leinster Championship opener against Wicklow in seven weeks.
The weather had a huge impact on the game with a gale force breeze blowing into the scoreboard end in Ballyshannon and Donegal made full use of it in the opening period after winning the toss as they raced into a huge twelve point lead.
Despite the conditions Kildare were awful in that first half as Donegal walked through them at will as the visitors only notched a solitary Neil Flynn free on the scoreboard.
Incidentally Kildare probably should have kicked the first point as Kevin Flynn who was a late introduction for Mark Hyland broke the line but he pulled a shot badly wide.
Donegal then went into turbo mode as they kicked the first nine points of the game.
Jamie Brennan got Donegal on the scoreboard before the likes of Niall McDonnell, Oisin Gallen, Hugh McFadden and Michael Murphy followed suit as the game was all but put to bed before Kildare even noticed.
Kildare barely got forward in the half and their luck was summed up by both Neil Flynn and Kevin Feely missing frees.
Flynn did eventually land a placed ball but the Tir Chonaill men quickly retaliated in the form of McDonnell, Gallen, Ryan McHugh and Daire O’Baoill as the hosts took a 0-13 to 0-1 lead into the break after a dreadful first half from Cian O’Neill’s men.
Kildare did have the wind in the second half but they still needed everything to go their way and after Paddy Brophy kicked a point from a mark there was some hope.
Donegal responded with Gallen and Murphy both kicking points while Jason McGee had a goal chance well saved by Mark Donnellan.
It was then officially curtains for Kildare in the 43rd minute when Kevin Flynn intentionally tripped Michael Murphy and it was even more unnecessary when he was on a yellow card and he duly got his marching orders for a red card and with Eoin Doyle also getting a black during this period, the Lillywhites were down to 13 men for a period.
Ironically they done relatively ok as they scored six of the next seven points with sub Adam Tyrrell making a big impact for the second game in a row with three super points as well as Flynn, Jimmy Hyland and Cian O’Donoghue finding the target either side of Donegal point from Ryan McHugh.
That got Kildare back to within nine points but Donegal were soon clear again when Jamie Brennan received a pass over the top from McGee and the corner forward made no mistake in finding the net.
McHugh and McGee then quickly added on points after the goal which gave Donegal a 1-18 to 0-8 lead before Kildare fired back in the shape of Tyrrell and Hyland.
Chris Healy missed a late goal chance for Kildare when his shot was expertly pushed away by Donegal stopper Shaun Patton and the Ulster side rounded off the game with points from Murphy and Caolan McGonagle as they comprehensively won on a 1-20 to 0-10 scoreline.
Donegal: Shaun Patton; Paddy McGrath, Brendan McCole, Eoghan Ban Gallagher, Daire O’Baoill 0-1, Leo McLoone, Ryan McHugh 0-3, Hugh McFadden 0-1, Jason McGee 0-2, Niall O’Donnell 0-3, Stephen McMenamin, Caolan McGonagle 0-1, Oisin Gallen 0-4, Michael Murphy 0-4 ( 0-2fs, 0-1 45), Jamie Brennan 1-1.
Subs used: Neil McGee for McCole 58 mins, Eoin McHugh for O’Boill 60 mins, Paul Brennan for Gallen 63 mins, Frank McGlynn for McLoone 66 mins, Caolan Ward for R.McHugh 68 mins,
Kildare: Mark Donnellan; David Hyland, Mick O’Grady, Peter Kelly, Cian O’Donoghue 0-1, Eoin Doyle, Kevin Flynn, Kevin Feely, Tommy Moolick, Fergal Conway, Paddy Brophy 0-1, Keith Cribbin, Neil Flynn 0-2 (0-2fs), Chris Healy, Jimmy Hyland 0-2.
Subs used: Adam Tyrrell 0-4 (0-1f) for Cribbin h-t, James Murray for Conway 48 mins, Aaron Masterson for N.Flynn 53 mins, Tony Archbold for Brophy 58 mins, Mark Barrett for O’Donoghue 62 mins,
Ref: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon)
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