Kildare show composure in tight finish

NFL Division One B/ Kildare 1-14 Meath 1-12: Meath's good fortune in the Allianz National League finally ran out at Páirc Tailteann in Navan yesterday. Having smartly lifted the points two weeks ago amid a blizzard of Laois wides, Eamonn Barry's side, although reduced to 14 men for most of the match, hung on to Kildare until injury-time when two late points clinched victory for the visitors.

Then in the dying seconds wing back Séamus Kenny set up a chance for Meath captain Nigel Crawford but his ferocious shot rebounded off the crossbar before being cleared.

"That was an important win," said Kildare manager John Crofton. "With the matches so condensed it's hard to focus and we have lost games we should have won, like last week's against Galway. We were nearly caught at the end, which would have been a pity because our tackling had been good until that point."

Like Laois two weeks previously, Kildare looked to be cutting their own throat with the number of wides they amassed.

In what had been an exceptionally economical match during the first half - one wide each although a couple of shots were dropped short - Kildare became loose and added six after the break, as they were chasing the match increasingly frantically.

Their principal contributor was John Doyle with six of his seven points coming from play. It's a tribute to the Allenwood forward's deservedly high reputation that his manager felt it hadn't been one of his better outings.

"He's an outstanding player despite going through - and I emphasise by his standards - a poor patch," said Barry. "But he was married on Thursday and postponed his honeymoon until tomorrow (Monday) so we'll forgive him that."

This was an exciting match, which started in a blaze with two goals in the first five minutes. After just 90 seconds Kenny's long ball caught the Kildare defence napping and Brian Farrell nipped in for a well-taken goal. Farrell and Doyle then swapped points before Kildare responded. Michael Foley's attempted point tailed away to the left and Tadhg Fennin collected to set up Ronan Sweeney whose strong run and shot levelled the match at 1-1 each.

Kildare began to look the more accomplished unit and one point was scored from a move that began on their own goalline. Using Anthony Rainbow as an extra defender, they created space on the left wing and used it well. Meath reacted by bringing David Gallagher in to counter the unorthodox situation.

Barry made four substitutions, in the first half, calling ashore both Joe Sheridan, who won the Laois match with a late point, and Farrell within 20 minutes.

"I was disappointed with some lads who weren't doing the simple things well, not doing what they had been told," said the Meath manager afterwards. "We have strength in depth and there is huge competition for places so there's no problem bringing in subs."

Despite the dismissal of forward Peadar Byrne on the half-hour for a second yellow card, Meath rallied to lead 1-8 to 1-7 at the break. A man short and facing a gusting wind, Meath looked in trouble but they fought hard and denied Kildare, who moved Rainbow to wing back, the extra space by raising their workrate and taking their chances.

In the third quarter Peter Curran's free-taking kept Meath three ahead despite Kildare's attempted inroads.

But it was hair-raising stuff. Fennin wriggled in for a shot that Murphy saved very well for a 45 that Doyle missed. There followed further wides. Then a smart interception by Kildare corner back Andrew McLaughlin sent Doyle galloping away for a point, when perhaps a goal could have been engineered.

A minute later, however, when Pádraig O'Neill tried to do just that, Meath full back Kevin Reilly intercepted the final pass to Sweeney. "We missed opportunities and should have had more scores," said Crofton. "Still we're happy with a 1-14 total."

Kildare made that total with a late scoring burst. David Lyons and Karl Ennis levelled the match by the 64th minute and eventually it came right for them. Doyle finished some more patient build-up in the 71st minute for a 1-13 to 1-12 lead. A minute later Fennin doubled the lead.

"I'm disappointed that we lost that," said Barry. "It looked for a long time as if we had weathered the storm. Then again we dropped three balls into the goalie's hands and couldn't put a move together after Kildare equalised. That's the sort of thing we've been working on all year - simple moves."

KILDARE: E Murphy (capt); A McLoughlin, K O'Neill, M Hogarty; P Mullarkey, G Ryan, D Lyons; M Foley (0-1), K Brennan; K Ennis (0-1), R Sweeney (1-1), A Rainbow (0-1); T Fennin (0-2), P O'Neill, J Doyle (0-7, one free). Subs: D Jordan (0-1) for Mullarkey (half-time), P Brennan for P O'Neill (62 mins), D McCormack for Jordan (65 mins), T O'Neill for P Brennan (70 mins).

MEATH: B Murphy; C King, K Reilly, N McLoughlin; J Donoghue, A Moyles, S Kenny (0-1); B Lynch, N Crawford; P Curran (0-5, all frees), J Sheridan, P Byrne (0-1); G Robinson (0-2), B Farrell (1-1), D Regan. Subs: D Gallagher (0-1) for Moyles (5 mins), A Moyles for Donoghue (9 mins), M Doran for Sheridan (20 mins), C Ward (0-1, a 45) for Farrell (25 mins), S McAnarney for Gallagher (62 mins).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).