The Kingdom rules with its jester as Kildare exit All-Ireland Championship

Kerry 3-12

Kildare 0-11

Kildare exited the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with a loss to Kerry in Tralee. The Lilies put in a solid showing away from home and, while Kerry were well worth their win with a Síofra O'Shea hattrick, Kildare weren’t much helped by continuous penalising from the man in the middle. Chief amongst the poor decisions was a first half penalty that O’Shea dispatched to put Kerry four clear.

The Lilies were by far the better side in the opening exchanges. After absorbing some pressure from the home side, they opened the scoring through Alannah Prizeman from a free-kick that she won herself.

Aoife Rattigan doubled Kildare’s advantage with a superb long-range effort before Gillian Wheeler gave them an 0-3 to 0-0 lead in the 7th minute.

Prizeman got her second and Kildare’s fourth in the ninth minute with another converted free. The Kingdom roared in reply with a goal through Síofra O’Shea who latched onto the rebound of Emma Costello’s effort at goal following a Kerry counter-attack.

The teams went tit for tat and exchanged points with the home side holding a narrow advantage headed into the final five minutes before the break.

After a poor restart at the back from Kildare, Kerry were through on goal and, after a super recovering run and tackle from Lia Reilly, Síofra O’Shea fired wide. The referee initially signalled for nothing but, despite having the best view of things, consulted with his umpires and a penalty was awarded much to Kildare’s dismay.

O’Shea superbly slotted the resulting penalty low into the bottom left corner.

A further point at either end sent the sides in at 2-5 to 0-7 in favour of The Kingdom.

Kildare’s luck with the man in the middle showed no signs of changing after the restart.

After some back and forth, The All-Ireland champions all but put the nail in the coffin in the 40th minute when O’Shea completed her hattrick. An excellent long ball in from Anna Galvin arrived before the Southern Gaels forward beat her marker and finished coolly into the corner.

The Kingdom finished as 3-12 to 0-11 winners over The Lilies, but Kildare can be pleased with their efforts in Tralee and with a season that had some real high points.

Kerry, Síofra O'Shea 3-2 (1-0 penalty, 0-1 frees), Danielle O'Leary 0-4, Niamh Carmody 0-2,  Rachel Dwyer 0-1, Anna Galvin 0-1, Katie Brosnan 0-1, Niamh Ní Chonchúir 0-1.

Kildare, Alannah Prizeman 0-7 (0-5 frees), Gillian Wheeler 0-1, Aoife Rattigan 0-1, Ciara Wheeler 0-1, Róisín Byrne 0-1.

KERRY: Mary Ellen Bolger; Eilís Lynch, Deirdre Kearney, Cáit Lynch; Aishling O'Connell, Emma Costello, Aoife Dillane; Mary O'Connell, Anna Galvin; Niamh Carmody, Niamh Ní Chonchúir, Caoimhe Evans; Rachel Dwyer, Síofra O'Shea, Danielle O'Leary. Subs: Róisín Rahilly for Anna Galvin (46 minutes), Katie Brosnan for Rachel Dwyer (46 minutes), Fay O'Donoghue for Deirdre Kearney (51 minutes),  Kayla O'Connor for Eilís Lynch (54 minutes), Niamh Quinn for Niamh Carmody (58 minutes).

KILDARE: Mary Hulgraine; Ruth Sargent, Laoise Lenehan, Mia Doherty; Lisa Shaw, Lauren Murtagh, Molly Aspell; Lia Reilly, Ciara Moran; Ciara Wheeler, Aoife Rattigan, Lara Curran; Gillian Wheeler, Alannah Prizeman, Róisín Byrne. Subs: Mia Ryan for Ciara Moran (37 minutes), Amy Mahon for Lauren Murtagh (41 minutes), Ellen Dowling for Aoife Rattigan (48 minutes), Síofra Galvin for Gilliam Wheeler (51 minutes), Claire Sullivan for Lisa Shaw (53 minutes).

Referee: Kevin Phelan, Laois

READ NEXT: Tailteann Cup final tickets go on sale at €60 top price in Croker double-header