Kildare U20s take big win in the mountains from Leinster Championships opener

Kildare got their Leinster GAA Dalata Hotels U20 Football Championship off to the perfect start with an away win over Wicklow when they travelled to An Tochar GAA in Roundwood

The Lilies made a tentative start to this fixture but eventually did open the scoring after six minutes through Ruaidhrí Lawlor with a fine point.

Eanna Nolan equalised for Wicklow twice in quick succession after Colm Moran had restored the early Kildare lead from a free.

Patrick Small drew in four men in white shirts towards him before handing off possession to Conor Doody who fired over. Ryan Harrison then put Wicklow two clear in a sluggish Kildare spell. The home side had the better of the midfield battle and were able to make that count in the early stages with Kildare’s middle third struggles rearing their ugly head at multiple levels of grades of intercounty football.

Trailing 0-4 to 0-2 after 12 minutes, The Lilies took over from here and were level five minutes later following scores from TJ Nolan and another Colm Moran free, which was won brilliantly by the bright Euan Cowzer.

Ronan Kelly put Kildare ahead again before three points in as many minutes, from Daniel Colbert, TJ Nolan and another from Moran, left The Lilies 0-8 to 0-4 clear after 24 minutes.

Sharp interplay gave Colm Moran his fourth first half point which was soon followed by Cian Keaveny’s first to send Kildare six clear.

The last play of the first half ended with the game’s first green flag when Cian McKevitt created space up front and handed off to Ronan Kelly. The Athy forward let fly and cracked the ball off the underside of the bar before it cannoned into the net. 

Kildare carried a 1-10 to 0-4 lead in at half-time.

The first score of the second half came from Wicklow midfielder Oisin Murphy who nailed a superb two-pointer 10 minutes after the restart.

Kildare answered with a trio of singles from Ronan Kelly, which included two close-range frees.

Kelly then got Kildare’s second goal when substitute Luke Murray’s attempt at fisting the ball over the bar came down off the crossbar for the Athy man to knee it into the back of the net.

The Lilies second goal neutralised any hopes of a major comeback from the home side. Clogherinkoe’s Jimmy Lynch got The Lilies’ third goal late on with a cool finish after more great work from Cian McKevitt.

Kildare finished as 3-16 to 0-9 winners in their Leinster Championship opener against Wicklow.

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Kildare, Ronan Kelly 2-4 (0-2 frees), Colm Moran 0-4 (0-2 frees), TJ Nolan 0-4, Jimmy Lynch 1-1, Ruaidhrí Lawlor 0-1, Daniel Colbert 0-1, Cian Keaveny 0-1.

Wicklow, Oisin Murphy 0-3 (1 x 2pt), Patrick Small 0-2 (1 x two-pointer),Eanna Nolan 0-2, Conor Doody 0-1, Ryan Harrison 0-1.

KILDARE: Charlie Carroll; Finn Dowling, Ben Ryan, Senan Gallagher; Harry Redmond, Cian McKevitt, Liam Kelly; Evan Boyle, TJ Nolan; Daniel Colbert, Colm Moran, Ruaidhrí Lawlor; Cian Keaveny, Euan Cowzer, Ronan Kelly. Subs: Luke Murray for Cian Keaveny (42 minutes), Austin Donegan for Euan Cowzer (48 minutes), Calum Keaveny for Harry Redmond (48 minutes), Jimmy Lynch for Colm Moran (51 minutes), Paul O’Dea for Daniel Colbert (56 minutes).

WICKLOW: Adam O'Leary; Joe Kindlon, Conor Doody, Cian Keogh; Tiernan Gahan, Kenneth Cullen, Barry Kealy; Regan Kelly, Oisin Murphy; Patrick Small, Conor Broderick, Ryan Harrison; Thomas Tisdall, Eanna Nolan, Fionn Darcy. Subs: Lorcan Toomey for Tiernan Gahan (Half-time), David Peppard for Patrick Small (Half-time).

Referee: Andrew Smyth (Meath)