Kildare forced to earn victory

Kildare 1-10 Antrim 1-8 Kildare carved out their second league win but it was a hard-earned 1-10 to 1-8 victory at Casement Park yesterday.

Had there been more steadiness in the home attack the resultmight have been different as the visitors had to stave off a late rally by Antrim, who went close to snatching two second-half goals to add to the one they eventually got.

Despite playing against a strong breeze in the first period, Kildare trailed 0-5 to 0-3 at the interval and looked well placed for a comfortable victory. It didn't turn out that way - Kevin Madden increased Antrim's lead in the 39th minute but four home wides inside five minutes proved costly.

As did a defensive blunder in the 41st minute. Two Antrim backs collided as they reached for a high centre and on the spot to convert the breaking ball to the home net was Pádraig Brennan. That levelled things at 0-6 to 1-3.

Kildare built on their good luck, scoring with points from Tadhg Fennin and half back Karl Ennis, who hit two fine points after cutting through the home defence on solo runs.

With five minutes left, Kildare led 1-9 to 0-8 and looked safe but a final burst by Antrim almost upset the form book.

In the 70th minute, following an excellent build-up, Kevin Brady was hauled down inside the Kildare box and Kevin Madden hammered the ball to the corner of the net from the spot.

That left just a point between the teams, but man-of-the-match Ennis polished off the home side with his third point of the game.

ANTRIM: S McGreevy; N Ward, T Convery, K Murray; S Kelly, R O'Loan, J Marron; J Quinn, D Martin; P McCann (0-1), P Doherty (0-1), K Brady; P Close (0-1), D O'Hare, K Madden (1-5, penalty goal, four frees). Subs: K McGourty for Marron (47 mins), G Brown for Kelly (59 mins).

KILDARE: E Murphy; B Lacey, D Hendry, A McLaughlin; E Callaghan, G Ryan, K Ennis (0-3); A Barry, R Sweeney; D McCormack, J Doyle, A O'Sullivan; P Brennan (1-4, three frees), R Glavin (0-1), T Fennin (0-2). Subs: D Early for Glavin (44 mins), T Rossiter for Doyle (58 mins).

Referee: M Hughes (Tyrone).