Kildare 1-20
Westmeath 2-11
Allianz NHL Division 2A
Kildare put in another brave effort on Sunday afternoon when they travelled to Cusack Park in Mullingar for their second game in Division 2A of the National Hurling League against Westmeath, but they came up just short against a side used to playing in a tier above them in championship fare.
James Burke was once again superb for Joe Quaid's men as he continued his free-taking duties, while substitute Shane Ryan made a big impact from the bench by scoring 1-1.
Kildare began brightly as midfielder Eanna O'Neill dispatched a clinical effort straight between the posts, though the lively Niall Mitchell, who would go on to cause plenty of problems for the Lilywhites defence in the first half, responded with his first point of the afternoon. James Burke responded with his first free of the day, but once again the home side hit back with a point from Ciaran Doyle.
Then came the game's first big moment when Mitchell broke through on goal, and though Paddy McKenna blocked his first effort, the Westmeath forward knocked in the rebound to register the first goal of the tie. That was followed up by a point from Niall O'Brien and a free from Allan Devine as Westmeath powered into a five-point lead.
Kildare responded well to the setback however, with Burke to the fore as he nailed a couple of frees with laser-like accuracy, before Bernard Deay had a chance on goal but flashed his effort just wide. The two teams traded points through Cormac Boyle and Burke, but a couple of points in quick succession from Devine reestablished a five-point advantage for the Lake County men as they led by 1-7 to 0-5 after 20 minutes.
Kildare pulled themselves right back into contention soon after when Martin Fitzgerald smashed a powerful shot into the back of the Westmeath net, but that good work was somewhat undone when Mitchell and Devine landed scores at the other end to keep Westmeath well in control. Burke and O'Brien swapped points just before the interval, leaving Kildare trailing by 1-10 to 1-6 going into the second half.
Shane Ryan, who came on as a substitute in the opening half to make his first appearance for Kildare in the National League, opened the second half scoring with a rare point from play for the Lilywhites, but the twin brothers Ciaran and Killian Doyle replied with interest to increase the Westmeath lead. Burke then landed his sixth point of the day through a fine effort from a placed ball on the sideline, and that was followed up by a superb goal from Shane Ryan to narrow the gap to just one point with 10 minutes gone in the second half.
Kildare failed to make the most of their momentum from there however, and the home side fought back with composure and resolve as they chalked up five points in succession, the most eye-catching of which came from Killian Doyle, while O'Brien also knocked over a neat effort. Kildare needed to do something to stem the flow of Westmeath scores, and once again it was Burke who brought some resistance through his accurate free-taking, landing two frees in quick succession to narrow the gap to four points with 15 minutes left to play. Burke then raised another white flag to cut the gap to three points, but Westmeath got the better of the closing stages and steamed home thanks to scores from Greville and John Gilligan.
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