Tailteann Cup quarter-final
Kildare 1-17 Offaly 0-19
By Paul Keane at Cedral St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge
With two painful defeats to Offay already behind them this season, Kildare simply couldn’t stand another.
So they dug deep to mine out a crucial win in Newbridge, propelling them through to Monday morning’s draw for the Tailteann Cup semi-finals.
Seven points from in-form attacker Alex Beirne, who has now amassed 2-30 in the tournament, and a crucial goal from James McGrath, were significant in helping the hosts to record their sixth win from six games in the redeveloped Newbridge stadium this season.
Ryan Sinkey and Darragh Kirwan split six points evenly between them also as Kildare reached the last four of the tier two competition for the first time.
They were pushed all the way, however, by a game Offaly side who cut a seven-point deficit with 21 minutes to go to just one late on.
Offaly even had a two-point attempt in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win it but Cillian Bourke’s attempt flew wide.
It all means that Offaly’s season is over while Kildare will head to Croke Park next weekend for a semi-final.
On a wet pitch with intermittent downpours, the physicality was off the scale throughout as the Leinster neighbours met for the third time this year.
Offaly won the previous two meetings by six and two-point margins, taking the Allianz League Division 3 title in the process, but ran into a Kildare side in better form this time.
The Lilywhites were one of only two teams in the competition to reach the knock-out stage with a perfect record.
They blitzed Leitrim and Tipperary before blasting 4-19 beyond Sligo to advance directly to the quarter-finals.
But this was always likely to be their toughest test of the campaign and the lead swung over and back throughout.
Kildare had it first after clipping three of the game’s first four points, from Sinkey, captain Kevin Feeley and Darragh Kirwan.
Offaly responded with points from Keith O’Neill and Cathal Flynn, the latter a two-pointer, to move 0-5 to 0-3 ahead themselves. And so the terms of engagement were set.
Next came the Kildare goal, from McGrath, which had the splendidly appointed new main stand rocking.
Athy man McGrath took off on a stunning solo run towards goal from the right wing before rifling a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Paddy Dunican.
Jack Bryant, Kildare’s destroyer in the Division 3 league final at Croke Park, hit back for Offaly with a point and Daire McDaid added another.
But Beirne’s first point of the game left Kildare 1-7 to 0-8 up at half-time.
It was more of the same after the break, Kildare firstly striding confidently clear with Beirne coming alive and kicking a two-pointer to nudge them 1-13 to 0-9 lead.
Then Offaly hit back with five unanswered points – including two Jordan Hayes two-pointers – to cut the deficit right back again.
They were neck and neck all the way until full-time; Kirwan, Beirne and Mick O’Grady grabbing the vital Kildare scores to keep them just about ahead all the way.
Offaly did have a 75th minute attempt to win it when young Tullamore star Bourke took a pot shot at glory from outside the arc but his two-point attempt flew wide.
Scorers for Kildare: Alex Beirne 0-7 (1 tp, 0-2f), James McGrath 1-0, Ryan Sinkey 0-3, Darragh Kirwan 0-3, Kevin Feeley 0-1, Daniel Flynn 0-1, David Hyland 0-1, Mick O’Grady 0-1.
Scorers for Offaly: Jordan Hayes 0-4 (2 tp), Paddy Dunican 0-3 (1tp, 0-1 45) Keith O’Neill 0-2, Cathal Flynn 0-2 (tp), Dylan Hyland 0-2 (0-1f), Shane Tierney 0-2 (0-1f), John Furlong 0-1 (0-1m), Jack Bryant 0-1, Daire McDaid 0-1, Cillian Bourke 0-1.
Kildare : Cian Burke; Harry O’Neill, Mark Dempsey, Ryan Burke; Tommy Gill, David Hyland, James McGrath; Kevin Feely, Brendan Gibbons; Brian Byrne, Alex Beirne, Colm Dalton; Ryan Sinkey, Daniel Flynn, Darragh Kirwan.
Subs: Niall Kelly for Sinkey 54, Kevin Flynn for Gill 55, Mick O’Grady for Gibbons 58, Jack McKevitt for Dempsey 63, Brian McLoughlin for Kirwan 72.
Offaly: Paddy Dunican; Lee Pearson, David Dempsey, Daire McDaid; Aidan Bracken, John Furlong, Cormac Egan; Jack McEvoy, Jordan Hayes; Kyle Higgins, Cathal Flynn, Cillian Bourke; Dylan Hyland, Jack Bryant, Keith O’Neill.
Subs: Ruairi McNamee for Higgins 42, Shane Tierney for Bryant 54, Rory Egan for Pearson 68.
Referee: Thomas Murphy (Galway).
By Offaly PRO Sat 14th Jun
