Kildare ladies will rue mistakes in Leinster Championship opener with Dublin

Dublin 4-12

Kildare 1-5

Kildare were well adrift of Dublin come referee Jonathan Murphy’s final whistle in Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

The Lilies were far more competitive than 12 months ago when their Leinster Senior Championship opener was seemingly over before it even began. A strong start this time around was not followed up on as needless errors saw them finish 16 points away from the girls in blue.

The Dubs grabbed the first two points of the game with a fast start, but they were assisted by the home side coughing possession all too easily for both scores.

The Lilies then shot in front when Aoife Rattigan found the net. The Cappagh star took aim at the posts, but saw her curling effort drop beneath the crossbar at too high of an angle for Dublin stopper Abby Shiels to fetch.

The Dubs looked set to fire straight back with a green flag of their own when full-forward Niamh Hetherton was sent through on goal by Caoimhe O’Connor. The Clontarf forward was brilliantly denied by Mary Hulgraine as The Lilies kept hold of their 1-0 to 0-2 lead.

Dublin levelled in the 10th minute with a Hannah Tyrell free that looked wide to those on the stand side in Newbridge. It certainly was in the estimation of Kildare boss Pat Sullivan who was irate on the sideline.

Alannah Prizeman restored Kildare’s lead with a well-taken free, an advantage that would be reversed less than a minute later when Niamh Hetherton did find the net with a low driven finish.

Sophie McIntyre cut inside and fired over soon after to give The Dubs a 1-4 to 1-1 lead after 13 minutes of action.

Kildare answered with their best spell of the game and the home side had Dublin scrambling back on a number of occasions.

The visitors were far from shy of using whatever means necessary to stop Kildare attacks too, but the girls in blue somehow towed the line carefully enough to avoid a booking.

A lovely curling effort from Alannah Prizeman to get her second point of the game left the score at 1-4 to 1-2.

Prizeman would get her third and indeed Kildare’s third point from a free in the 17th minute, but it looked like The Lilies were set for much more before the referee blew for a free after Róisín Byrne had burst clear of her opposite number and was through on goal.

Byrne levelled things in the 22nd minute when Neasa Dooley chipped at 45’ into her path and the Sarsfields forward fired over.
There was a six-minute gap in scoring as the sides battled for supremacy and this game edged towards half-time with the teams all square.

The Dubs exercised the mark of a good team and surged at the best possible time to grab 1-1 in the two minutes before the break.

Hannah Tyrell turned provider for Caoimhe O’Connor with yet another Clontarf forward getting on the scoresheet. O’Connor rattled the back of the net to deliver a real sucker punch to the home contingent.

O’Connor’s clubmate Niamh Hetherton grabbed the final score of the half with a close-range point bang on the half-hour mark.
Dublin went in at the break with a 2-5 to 1-4 lead over Kildare.

The minutes after the restart were crucial for Kildare if they were going to have any hope of toppling The Dubs in this game.

However, it was Dublin who came flying out of the blocks to smother all hope of a comeback. Yet another Hetherton point was followed by a seven-minute segment called The Chloe Darby Show. The centre-forward hit 1-3 consecutively with no other player registering a score during her spell of the game.

Kildare couldn’t get out and, after Darby hit her three points, she hit Dublin’s third goal of the game in the 40th minute with a cold, clinical finish.

The minutes that followed were somewhat dour with both sides seemingly aware of the destination of this fixture. A point at either end in the 13 minutes that followed left little to get excited about.

The visitors grabbed their fourth goal through substitute Niamh Crowley, which was the best of the day. The Fingallians forward absolutely lumped the ball into the roof of the net in a fashion that would make you think it owed her money.

Crowley also got the game's final point in the 58th minute with Dublin closing out for a 4-12 to 1-5 victory.

Kildare were far too inconsistent within this game. The players and management all cut frustrated figures after full-time with each of them knowing the team hadn’t done themselves justice.

MAIN PLAYER
Alannah Prizeman
The Naas forward did all that was asked from her at the top of the pitch. Prizeman took her chances when they came and was one of the chief threats for Kildare when they managed to get up the pitch.

TURNING POINT
Dublin's 1-1 scored just before half-time really took the wind out of Kildare sails. If that was a dent to The Lilies, the Dublin surge after the restart was then the nail in the coffin as the visitors put themselves out of sight with 1-5 without reply.

TALKING POINT
Similar to the Kildare hurlers' Championship opener, the Lilywhite ladies disappointed first time out, but their Leinster clash with Meath next up presents a brilliant opportunity to put things right in the same way that the hurlers did this weekend.

WHAT NOW?
Kildare face Meath in their second Leinster Senior Football Championship clash this Sunday, May 4 with the winner getting a second crack at Dublin in the provincial final.

SCORERS
DUBLIN: Niamh Hetherton 1-5, Chloe Darby 1-3 (0-1 frees), Niamh Crowley 1-1, Caoimhe O'Connor 1-0, Hannah Tyrell 0-2 (0-1 frees), Sophie McIntyre 0-1.

KILDARE: Alannah Prizeman 0-4 (0-4 frees), Aoife Rattigan 1-0, Róisín Byrne 0-1.

TEAMS
DUBLIN: Abby Shiels; Jess Tobin, Leah Caffrey, Niamh Donlon; Aoife Curran, Lauren Magee, Aoife Kane; Éilish O'Dowd, Grace Kós; Caoimhe O'Connor, Chloe Darby, Annabelle Timothy; Hannah Tyrell, Niamh Hetherton, Sophie McIntyre. Subs: Niamh Crowley for Sophie McIntyre (47 minutes), Hannah Leahy for Aoife Kane (51 minutes), Jodi Egan for Hannah Tyrell (52 minutes), Ashling Nyan for Grace Kós (56 minutes), Siobhán Birnie for Niamh Hetherton (58 minutes).

KILDARE: Mary Hulgraine; Ruth Sargent, Laoise Lenehan, Emma Wheeler; Mia Doherty, Laura Dunlea, Molly Aspell; Claire Sullivan, Gillian Wheeler; Ciara Wheeler, Lisa Shaw, Neasa Dooley; Aoife Rattigan, Alannah Prizeman, Róisín Byrne. Subs: Síofra Galvin for Gillian Wheeler (Half-time), Ciara Moran for Claire Sullivan (33 minutes), Aoife Murnane for Neasa Dooley (39 minutes), Ellen Dowling for Aoife Rattigan (44 minutes), Lara Gilbert for Emma Wheeler (48 minutes).

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow)

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