Sport

Cullen inspires Dublin fightback

Leinster U-21 FC/Semi-finals; Dublin 2-10; Kildare 0-13:  Seven points in the last 15 minutes earned Dublin an unlikely victory…

Mon Apr 08 2002 - 01:00

Leinster U-21 FC/Semi-finals; Dublin 2-10; Kildare 0-13:  Seven points in the last 15 minutes earned Dublin an unlikely victory over Kildare in the Leinster Under-21 championship semi-final at Navan yesterday.

Second-half substitute Bryan Cullen was at the heart of the comeback. Coming in at left half-back, the Skerries youngster helped to compose his side's defence, and added two points; his first was a crucial equaliser while his second gave Dublin a 2-9 to 0-13 lead.

Dublin's first goal, on 19 minutes, came after goalkeeper Dermot Cummins and William Heffernan both jumped for Thomas Quinn's free-kick, allowing the ball to roll over the line in the process.

Dublin senior player Alan Brogan added a more conventional goal six minutes later, and his side led 2-2 to 0-6 at half-time, despite the fact that Kildare had been the more dominant side.

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Kildare, with wind advantage in the second half, scored four straight points to go 0-10 to 2-2 ahead.

Declan Lally replied for Dublin before two more Kildare points gave them a three-point advantage with 15 minutes remaining.

At that stage Kildare were dominant in most departments, and they were playing with far more heart and desire than their opponents.

However, the Dublin defence - and Cullen in particular - finally closed up while Darren Magee and Conor Murphy began to dominate in midfield. Their seven points to Kildare's one decided the issue.

SCORERS: Dublin - A Brogan 1-1, T Quinn 1-0 (free) L Og Oheineachain 0-3, B Cullen, D Lally 0-2 each, N O'Driscoll, K Devine 0-1 each. Kildare- J O'Donoghue 0-4 (3 frees), T Rossiter 0-3, P Hurley, C O'Reilly (2 frees) 0-2 each, E Callaghan, D McCormack 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; N Kane, D Corcoran, S Shaughnessy; D Murray, B Cahill, P Casey; D Magee, C Murphy; K Devine, L Og O hEineachain, N O'Driscoll; A Brogan, G Cullen, T Quinn. Subs: B Cullen for Murray (h-t), D Lally for O'Driscoll (37 mins), M Lyons for Devine (48).

KILDARE: D Cummins; P O'Flynn, T Dunne, M Dunne; A McLoughlin, P Reidy, E Callaghan; P Hurley, W Heffernan; K Ennis, J O'Donoghue, D McCormack; C O'Reilly, T Rossiter, M Browne. Subs: E Noons for T Dunne (27), E McCormack for Browne (40), N Browne for Heffernan (46), J White for Ennis (48).\

Referee: J Smith (Meath).