Kildare minors triumph in Leinster Championship battle with Westmeath
Niall Cronin's side ran out 0-22 to 1-13 winners after a back and forth encounter in Cedral St Conleth's Park
Kildare 0-22
Westmeath 1-13
Kildare added another win to their record for the 2025 Leinster Minor Football Championship campaign and topped Group 2 to progress straight to the semi-final stage.
This game got started with a point at either end from Westmeath’s Dean Kelly and Kildare’s Rory Thompson, after which the visitors took a brief two-point lead.
A close-range free-kick taken by star man Will Scahill was followed by a fine point from Tubberclair forward Sean Whittaker.
Inside 60 seconds, a brilliant score from Hugh Martin was the perfect reply for The Lilies.
The home side went level again when Ollie Deller rounded off a fine team move to make this game 0-3 to 0-3 after 10 minutes.
Kildare’s short and sharp passing again caused Westmeath trouble with Pauric Carty and Rory Thompson combining before the latter put Kildare ahead.
The Lilies were now well into the best stretch of their first half performance. A Hugh Martin double was followed by a wonderful curling score from Niall McAndrew as the home side hit three scores in as many minutes.
Westmeath responded well to the Kildare pressure with points from Dean Kelly and Will Scahill drawing them back to within two at 0-7 to 0-5.
The Lilies answered brilliantly again by putting together a run of three scores on the trot.
They all came from the half-back line too with two lovely TJ Donoghue scores being split by a point from Sean Gleeson. The Round Towers centre-back put the finishing touches on yet another slick Kildare move.
Kildare looked comfortable at 0-10 to 0-5 after 27 minutes of action, but it would be the visitors who hit the net first to slash the Lilies’ leading margin.
Corner-back Ross Tully suddenly saw the pitch part before him on the counter-attack. The St Lomans player took his shot early and had to watch his sidefooted effort cannon back off the crossbar. However, the breaking ball couldn’t have fallen to a better man with Will Scahill latching onto possession and finding the net in ruthless style.
The Lilies would again be unperturbed by this setback and ended the half on a high thanks to an excellent two-point free from Pauric Carty.
The Rathangan forward’s late strike off the deck sent Kildare in at half-time with an 0-12 to 1-5 lead.
The Lilies carried that momentum into the second half too with six points without reply in just shy of 10 minutes after the restart. Six points from six different scorers as Kildare flexed their muscles in this game with Deller, Carty, Thompson, Martin, and Doran all adding to their tallies, while Cillian Long registered a point just 10 seconds after being subbed onto the field.
0-18 to 1-5 with Westmeath yet to score in the half made this result seem like a formality, but the visitors weren’t being taken out that easily.
A point from Dean Kelly was quickly added to by a two-pointer and an old fashioned one-pointer too from Will Scahill.
The gap was still six, but vague concern became worry for Kildare when Finn Higgins rounded Jamie Wall in the Kildare goal. The St Pauls forward had his subsequent effort cleared off the line brilliantly by a retreating Mark Travers.
After a point at either end from Kildare’s Sean Gleeson and Sean Whittaker from a 45’, the game sat at 0-19 to 1-10 after 46 minutes of play.
A Will Scahill two-pointer and a point from substitute Stephen McWade all of a sudden made this a three-point game with six minutes remaining.
A crucial Hugh Martin score was enough to temper some nerves in Newbridge late on. Kildare finished in command and closed out smartly with extended possession and points from Pauric Carty and Cillian Long for an 0-22 to 1-13 win.
Kildare, Hugh Martin 0-5, Pauric Carty 0-4 (0-3 frees, one two-pointer), Rory Thompson 0-3 (0-1 frees), Cillian Long 0-2, TJ Donoghue 0-2, Ollie Deller 0-2, Sean Gleeson 0-2, Niall McAndrew 0-1, Charlie Doran 0-1.
Westmeath, Will Scahill 1-7 (0-5 frees, two two-pointers), Dean Kelly 0-2, Sean Whittaker 0-2 (0-1 45'), Dean Kelly 0-1, Stephen McWade 0-1.
KILDARE: Jamie Wall; Dan Sargent, Niall McAndrew, Senan Gallagher; Charlie Cullen, Sean Gleeson, TJ Donoghue; Calum Keaveny, Ollie Deller; Rian Curran, Hugh Martin, Mark Travers; Pauric Carty, Rory Thompson, Charlie Doran. Subs: Cillian Long for Rian Curran (36 minutes), Robbie Milham for Calum Keaveny (38 minutes), Nathan Dunne for Sean Gleeson (55 minutes), Conor McBrien for Ollie Deller (60 minutes), Aran Martin for Niall McAndrew (62 minutes).
WESTMEATH: John Paul; Anthony King Carroll, Eoin Donohue, Ross Tully; Conor Casey, Oisin McCauley, Seán Byrne; Cian Fleming, Rory McCaul; Finn Higgins, Dillon Burke, Jack Duignan; Dean Kelly, Will Scahill, Sean Whittaker. Subs: Conor Cleary for Jack Duignan (Half-time), Michael Fry for Rory McCaul (44 minutes), Sean Keegan for Oisin McCauley (50 minutes), Stephen McWade for Finn Higgins (50 minutes), Aaron Connaire for Sean Whittaker (55 minutes).
Referee: Dan Stynes (Dublin)