Kildare back in Joe McDonagh mix with big win in Carlow
Kildare got their Joe McDonagh Cup hopes back on track when they swept aside the challenge of Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park.
With one win out of their previous two games the Lilywhites knew they could not afford to lose and they went about it in the best possible way.
Marty Kavanagh may have given Carlow an early lead with two converted frees but the home side soon found themselves chasing the game as the half progressed.
David Qualter landed four frees for the visitors while Gerry Keegan and James Burke scored three and two points respectively from play. James Sheridan netted the only goal of the half when he took a pass from Cathal Dowling and fired home. The three-pointer had been coming as the home keeper, Brian Tracey, made a great smother save to deny Sheridan only minutes earlier.
It was clear the visitors, who played against the stiff breeze in the first half, were focussed and were in no mood to give their rivals an inch.
Carlow fought hard to stay in contention with Kavanagh scoring six points but the visitors led 1-12 to 0-11 at half-time.
Seconds into the second half, Kildare struck for a Cathal Dowling goal and Keegan added a point to stretch their advantage. A brilliant Chris Nolan point lifted the home side and they earned a penalty when Rian Boran was adjudged to have fouled James Doyle on the edge of the large parallelogram.
There was divided opinion in the stand about the merit of the award but Kavanagh kept his composure to find the bottom right-hand corner of the net. As the battle intensified, there was still 20 minutes to go as Carlow got to within a point of the away side.
The home side looked to have the momentum but with the return of Boran, Kildare reassessed and scored six unanswered points to emerge winners. It was a sweet victory for the visitors and their season is resurrected.
Kildare: Paddy McKenna; Richy Hogan, Rian Boran, Daniel O'Meara; Paul Dolan, Simon Leacy, Cian Boran; Daire Guerin (0-01), James Burke (0-05); David Qualter (0-07fs), Cathal McCabe (0-01), Gerry Keegan (0-04, 1f); Jack Sheridan (1-00), Cathal Dowling (1-01), Jack Travers (0-02).
Subs: Darragh Melville (0-02) for Dolan (58), Muiris Curtin for Guerin (63), Conn Kehoe for Keegan (72), Killian Harrington for Qualter (73).
Carlow: Brian Tracey; Paul Doyle, Dion Wall, Paidi O'Shea; Evan Kealy, Kevin McDonald, Jack McCullagh; James Doyle (0-04), Fiachra Fitzpatrick; Jon Nolan (0-02), Conor Kehoe (0-02), Ciaran Whelan (0-01); Chris Nolan (0-03), Marty Kavanagh (1-07 1-0 pen, 5fs), Paddy Boland (0-01).
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