Kildare 0-19 Offaly 1-12: Kildare ran out reasonably comfortable winners over Offaly in the first game of the Leinster Championship double header at Croke Park, eventually proving too strong for a spirited Offaly side.
Although the final margin was a respectable-looking four points, that owed much to an injury-time penalty for Offaly. That said, Kildare found Emmet McDonnell’s a more defiant prospect than most would have expected, especially in the opening half.
There was very little to choose between the sides early on, with the teams level on 0-4 apiece after 23 minutes. Offaly scored some excellent points in that period, with one, in particular, from Graham Guilfoyle with the outside of his boot catching the eye.
Kildare flexed their muscle more and more as the half wore on though, with their half-forward line wholly impressive.
Eoghan O’Flaherty almost had a goal when put through by Emmet Bolton only for Alan Mulhall to produce the first of three wonderful saves. Johnny Doyle kept the scoreboard ticking both from frees and from play, leading to Kildare going in at half-time 0-10 to 0-7 ahead.
Although Offaly had much to be happy about from that first half, it was clear that the opening score would be vital after the break. It was in that period that
Kildare effectively put the game to bed with points from Paul Cribbin and Niall Kelly pushing them five in front.
Offaly did raise a brief gallop in scoring the next three points but after Peter Cunningham kicked a wide on 45 minutes – prompting the first use of the GAA’s new Hawk-Eye system – their momentum stalled.
Kildare kicked the next six points in a row through Kelly, Cribbin (two), O’Flaherty and Doyle (two) to kill the game off. David Hanlon’s late penalty put a better look on the scoreboard but Kildare advanced, albeit without being especially impressive.
Offaly: A Mulhall (0-1); B Darby, S Sullivan, D Brady; E Carroll, S Sullivan, M Brazil; A McNamee (0-1), B Connor; G Guilfoyle (0-1), J Brickland, D Hanlon (1-0, 1-0 pen); A Sullivan, N McNamee (0-4), K Casey (0-4, 0-3 frees). Subs: P Cunningham for Carroll, 27 mins; N Darby (0-1) for Brazil, 45 mins; J Moloney for O'Connor, 52 mins; R Allen for Brickland, 55 mins; P McPadden for Sullivan, 57 mins Yellow card: Hanlon, Sullivan
Kildare: M Donnellan; P Kelly, M Foley, H McGrillen; O Lyons, E Callaghan, E Bolton; Daryl Flynn, Daniel Flynn; P Cribbin (0-4), N Kelly (0-4), E O'Flaherty (0-4); J Doyle (0-6, 0-4 frees), T O'Connor, P Brophy. Subs: F Dowling for Brophy, 45 mins, S Johnston (0-1) for O'Connor, 55 mins; M O'Flaherty for E O'Flaherty, 61 mins; D Hyland for Bolton, 64 mins; R Kelly for Daryl Flynn, 64 mins Yellow card: Daniel Flynn
Referee: Rory Hickey (Clare)
