Kildare eventually find their feet to kick clear of Tipperary
Brian Flanagan's Kildare side beat Tipperary 3-19 to 1-11 in Clonmel on Saturday and secured their second Tailteann Cup Group 1 win
Kildare 3-19
Tipperary 1-11
Kildare came good in the second half to secure their second Group 1 victory in the Tailteann Cup.
The travelling Kildare contingent were positively giddy after a minute of action. Aaron Masterson won the throw-in which resulted in a lofty Daniel Flynn score and we’re off to the races.
Flynn wins the resulting kick-out and sets up Alex Beirne (perhaps inadvertently) to grab a second. A lightning pair of points, but it all slowed after that for no apparent reason.
Didier Cordonnier hit a couple of lovely kick-outs, but under no pressure for the first couple of restarts. A fact that would change and alter the course of this game as it wore on.
Some dreary possession from both sides was interrupted by a sharp burst from Kildare’s Tommy Gill, who beat two men before fisting over in the 10th minute.
The Lilies hit their fifth wide before they hit their fourth point with last week’s pleasing shooting efficiency seemingly evaporating early on.
A fine score from Brendan Gibbons made this game 0-4 to no score after a quarter of an hour. A point that went from goalkeeper, to midfielder, who then found his partner to score.
A minute later Ben McCormack hit Kildare’s fifth off his left side.
Alex Beirne’s free in the 20th minute made this game 0-6 to no score and there seemed to be little resistance on the horizon for The Lilies.
However, it only takes a moment to ignite a game and for the home side that was Cian Smith’s two-point free-kick.
The gap then went back to three less than 60 seconds later when Tipperary got the best of the resulting kick-out close to goal. Daithí Hogan had a goal chance at his feet but blasted his effort over the bar.
A warning for Kildare and one they did not heed.
The Lilies’ most impressive moments were in response to big Tipperary scores. Kildare hit 1-2 in two minutes to restore their comfortable lead.
Daniel Flynn gave the travelling fans something to shout about with a goal. The Johnstownbridge man was causing tons of trouble and could have had more than just the one first half goal, but, when he did take his chance, he did so in fine style off his laces.
Flynn’s goal doubled Kildare’s lead at 1-6 to 0-3, which was quickly added to Darragh Swords and Jimmy Hyland who both cut in sharply from their respective corners to score.
The Lilies were once again in command, but (once again) dropped out of things.
Tipp corner-forward Cian Smith fired over just inside the 40m mark. Kildare went short from the restart and a ball that was dropped too short of Ryan Sinkey was intercepted by Seán O’Connor.
The Clonmel Commercials man was fouled but kept on pushing and found Darragh Brennan who fired into the back of the net.
Punished in clinical style, but the backline mishap was nearly wiped out immediately by Daniel Flynn at the other end when the
Johnstownbridge forward audaciously attempted to lob the ‘keeper but saw his effort come back off the bar.
Flynn did score a point a couple of minutes later to make this game 1-9 to 1-4 after a half an hour of action.
The Lilies were seemingly ready for half-time following a Mick O’Grady injury (not believed to be serious) that caused a break in play, but Cian Smith put all his might behind a two-point effort that sailed between the posts.
Smith’s late long-ranger made this game 1-9 to 1-6 at the break.
A reaction was to be expected after the break, but it was Tipperary who were ready to keep pushing.
Wing-back Jack O’Neill reduced the gap to two following extended possession for the home side.
A sharp move up the field looked set to finish in the net from Jimmy Hyland after a Darragh Swords ball across the box, but the Ballyteague man was clumsily fouled when reaching for the ball and the referee signalled for a penalty straight away.
Alex Beirne made no mistake from the spot and opened his body up to find the right corner of the net in the 42nd minute.
Kildare remained unable to shake the hosts and a Steven O’Brien two-point free had Tipp back to within three at 2-9 to 1-9 just two minutes after the spot kick
The Lilies, in a patchy performance, put together yet another good spell.
A glorious two-pointer from David Hyland to match a glorious day was a sight to behold as the Athy man sailed one over from out wide.
Kildare’s next point came from the most exciting men on the field with Daniel Flynn combining with Jimmy Hyland for a score. The free-scoring pair give Kildare movement in the inside forward line, something that has been truly lacking in their respective absences.
Flynn followed Hyland with a point of his own and Kildare now led by nine as we hit the hour mark.
You could never accuse Tipperary of packing it in, but with 10 minutes to go their race was run.
Similar to how he did on two occasions against Leitrim, Alex Beirne struck a lovely two-pointer free off the ground between the posts. The Naas man has made brilliant use of two warm and relatively calm days in the Tailteann Cup so far.
The last moment of great note came one-minute from the end of normal time when Beirne drove down the side of the Tipperary defence and sent a high, looping handpass across for Daniel Flynn to slap into the net.
The Lilies added two more points from here with Alex Beirne finishing up his tally of 1-5 with a free in the 72nd minute and the returning Tony Archbold getting a score that will do his confidence no harm in the 73rd.
The game’s last score would be reserved for Tipperary however and corner-back Luke Boland when put the finishing touches on a team move
It wasn’t always convincing but, in the end, it was a commanding win for Kildare by 3-19 to 1-11.
The Lilies now face Sligo, likely their toughest test to date, in their final Tailteann Cup Group 1 clash on Saturday, May 31.
Scorers: Kildare, Daniel Flynn 2-4, Alex Beirne 1-5 (1-0 penalty, 0-4 frees, one two-pointer), Jimmy Hyland 0-3, David Hyland 0-2 (one two-pointer), Brendan Gibbons 0-1, Ben McCormack 0-1, Tommy Gill 0-1, Darragh Swords 0-1, Tony Archbold 0-1.
Tipperary, Cian Smith 0-5 (0-2 frees, two two-pointers), Darragh Brennan 1-1 (0-1 frees), Stephen O'Brien 0-2 (0-2 frees, one two-pointer), Daithí Hogan 0-1, Jack O'Neill 0-1, Luke Boland 0-1.
KILDARE: Didier Cordonnier; Brian Byrne, Mark Dempsey, Ryan Burke; Tommy Gill, David Hyland, Mick O’Grady; Aaron Masterson, Brendan Gibbons; Ryan Sinkey, Alex Beirne, Ben McCormack; Darragh Swords, Daniel Flynn, Jimmy Hyland. Subs: Kevin Flynn for Mick O'Grady (Half-time), Eoin Cully for Ryan Sinkey (43 minutes), Kevin Feely for Brendan Gibbons (47 minutes), Tony Archbold for Ben McCormack (54 minutes), Jack McKevitt for Tommy Gill (67 minutes).
TIPPERARY: Shane Ryan; Manus McFadden, Jimmy Feehan, Luke Boland; Mark Stokes, Kieran Costello, Jack O'Neill; Paudie Feehan, Mark Russell; Micheál Freaney, Steven O'Brien, Daithí Hogan; Cian Smith, Darragh Brennan, Seán O'Connor. Subs: Eoin O'Connell for Mark Russell (29 mins), Ben Comerford for Seán O'Connor (Half-time), James Morris for Paudie Feehan (54 minutes), Jack Nevin for Micheál Freaney (59 minutes), Emmet Moloney for Stephen O'Brien (66 minutes).
Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo)