Kildare exit All-Ireland SHC after Dublin defeat ends legendary season

Dublin 3-25

Kildare 0-13

Kildare came up short in their All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship outing against Dublin. 

The Lilies, buoyed by a packed house, enjoyed mixing it with Dublin in the opening exchanges.

After Seán Currie opened the scoring with a free for The Dubs, the home crowd roared as David Qualter opened Kildare’s account.

The Lilies took the lead through Jack Sheridan in the seventh minute to rapturous applause.

The Dubs responded in emphatic style with an equalising point from Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing, which was quickly followed by their first goal from Ronan Hayes. The Dublin corner-forward capitalised on Kildare coughing up possession and produced a cool overhead finish to make this game 1-2 to 0-2 in the 10th minute.

Kildare kept to within three in the few minutes after the day’s first green flag with a couple of frees from David Qualter.

Points from Seán Currie and Cian O'Sullivan were followed by a Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing goal that put daylight between the sides.

The Dubs continued to dominate the opening half and stayed well clear of Kildare on the scoreboard, but were subjected a might tighter second. The gulf in class was clear to see with the boys in blue dominating in the air and making the most of their physical superiority throughout this fixture. 

The moment of the day for The Lilies came when they walked off the field after full-time to massive applause as an exceptional season came to an end.

Dublin, Seán Currie 0-8 (0-5 frees), Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing 1-4, Fergal Whiteley 1-1, Ronan Hayes 1-1, Riain McBride 0-3, Brian Hayes 0-3, Cian O'Sullivan 0-2, Chris Crummey 0-2, Conor Burke 0-1.

Kildare, David Qualter 0-8 (0-6 frees, 0-1 '65), Gerry Keegan 0-2, Jack Travers 0-1, Jack Sheridan 0-1, Cian Boran 0-1.

DUBLIN: Seán Brennan; John Bellew, Paddy Smyth, Conor McHugh; Paddy Doyle, Chris Crummey, Paddy Dunleavy; John Hetherton, Brian Hayes; Riain McBride, Fergal Whitely, Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing; Seán Currie, Cian O'Sullivan, Ronan Hayes. Subs: Conor Burke for Riain McBride (44 minutes), Conal O'Riain for Cian O'Sullivan (49 minutes), Andy Dunphy for Paddy Dunleavy (50 minutes), Darragh Power got Ronan Hayes (64 minutes).

KILDARE: Paddy McKenna; Richy Hogan, Rian Boran, Daniel O'Meara; Simon Leacy, Cian Boran, Paul Dolan; Daire Guerin, Cathal McCabe; Liam O'Reilly, Gerry Keegan, David Qualter; Darragh Melville, Cathal Dowling, Jack Sheridan. Subs: Jack Travers for Cathal McCabe (44 minutes), Harry Carroll for Liam O'Reilly (49 minutes), Muiris Curtin for Jack Sheridan (58 minutes), Killian Harrington for Cathal Dowling (60 minutes), Oisin Lynam for David Qualter (66 minutes).

Referee: James Owens, Wexford

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