Kildare 0-9
Wexford 0-8
Leinster SFC quarter-final
When Ciaran Lyng curled a stoppage time free towards goal that would have sent this game to a replay, most in attendance in Croke Park would not have argued that Wexford deserved a draw. It wasn't to be however, as the St Martin's man's effort sailed agonisingly wide of the post and Kildare got out of jail with a one point win following a poor second half display.
Having held a four point lead going into the second period it looked as if Kildare were in good stead after producing a defensively sound performance in the first half, but they failed to score for more than 20 minutes as a spirited Wexford found a way back into the tie.
Kildare were behind within 40 seconds of the throw-in as John Tubritt engineered some space for himself by skating past Ollie Lyons, and he applied a simple finish to open the scoring. It took the Lilywhites a number of minutes to settle into the game and they snatched at one or two good opportunities in front of goal, most notably an uncharacteristic close range miss from Eoghan O'Flaherty.
It was the debutant pair of Kevin Feely and Neill Flynn who combined for Kildare's first couple of scores as Flynn converted a free won by Feely after six minutes, before the Athy man sprayed a lovely ball into the corner-forward to set him up for his second point two minutes later.
Kildare began to kick on from that point as the likes of Emmet Bolton, Ollie Lyons and Ryan Houlihan began to exert more of an influence on proceedings, and it was the latter who started a flowing move that eventually ended with Morgan O'Flaherty curling over a close range point to double Kildare's lead.
Lyons was operating in a much more advanced position than normal, and the Celbridge man kicked an excellent point after a typically incisive run left him in space 30 metres from goal. After going the guts of 20 minutes without a score, Wexford eventually managed to trouble the umpires once again when U21 star Donal Shanley curled over a superb free.
Kildare were stringing together some fine moves however, and the two-man inside forward line of Alan Smith and Neill Flynn looked to have the beating of their men every time there was a decent ball sent into them. Both men kicked over a point apiece within a couple of minutes of each other to supplement Kildare's lead further, though Colm Kehoe pulled one back soon after with a stunning long range point.
The Lilywhites ensured they went into the break with a four point lead when Smith curled over the final score of the half after a quick transition from attack to defence finished with Eoghan O'Flaherty finding the Sarsfields man 30 metres from goal, and there was never any doubt about the outcome after that.
Kildare came out for the second half with a lead of 0-7 to 0-3, but that was completely wiped out in a 20 minute spell where they failed to get on the scoreboard whatsoever. Donal Shanley kicked over a couple of handy frees, before excellent scores from Kevin O'Grady and Shane Roche levelled matters.
Kildare were hanging on at that stage, and they kicked a succession of wides that really ought to have been scores. It was the impact of the substitute pair of Cian O'Donoghue and Eamonn Callaghan that really won the game for the Lilywhites, with the latter kicking a superb score within 30 seconds of his introduction to push Kildare a single point ahead once again.
Clane wing-back O'Donoghue then lashed over a super score after showing great strength to cut through the Slaneysiders defence with an excellent 40 yard run. Amazingly, when Donal Shanley converted a free to draw the gap back to one point with 10 minutes left, that signaled the final score of the match as Kildare hung on for dear life to their one point advantage for the remaining minutes.
There were boos from the Wexford fans as Kildare kept the ball through a series of short handpasses for well over two minutes at one stage, though there was also some heroic interventions from the likes of Peter Kelly and David Hyland in the closing stages as Kildare saw out the win.
While the manner of the victory will not be what Cian O'Neill would have wanted, to emerge from their first game of the summer with any sort of victory will provide some solace.
Scorers for Kildare: N Flynn 0-3(1f) A Smith 0-2, O Lyons, E Callaghan, C O'Donoghue and M O'Flaherty 0-1 each
Scorers for Wexford: D Shanley 0-4(4f), J Tubritt, K O'Grady, C Kehoe and S Roche 0-1 each
Kildare
M Donnellan; P Kelly, D Hyland, O Lyons; E Doyle, F Conway, E Bolton(C O'Donoghue 49mins); K Feely(F Dowling 60mins), T Moolick; R Houlihan, E O'Flaherty(P O'Neill 59mins), P Cribbin(A Tyrell 47mins); M O'Flaherty(K Murnaghan 70mins), A Smith(E Callaghan 54mins), N Flynn.
Wexford
A Masterson; J Wadding, J Rossiter, M Furlong(K Butler 30mins); S Donohoe, B Malone(S Byrne 64mins), E Nolan; C Kehoe, D Waters; KO’Grady, PJ Banville(A Flynn 47mins), B Brosnan; D Shanley, C Lyng, J Tubritt(S Roche h/t).
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