Controversial Doyle red card hinders Kildare as they fall to narrow Donegal defeat
Donegal 1-15
Kildare 3-7
Allianz NFL Division 1
Ballyshannon was the latest destination on Kildare’s Division 1 journey as they went in search of their first win today. With Donegal also without any points from their first three games, this was billed as a relegation shootout between both sides, and despite scoring three goals, Kildare slumped to a fourth defeat in a row.
The major talking point from this game was the sending off of Eoin Doyle after just 10 minutes for two yellow cards, with referee David Gough seemingly penalising the Kildare captain for a failure to have his gumshields in on two occasions.
Donegal spurned a number of chances before Kildare netted a goal to mark the opening score of game after five minutes. Kevin Feely caught a mark from a Mark Donnellan kickout before working the ball to Tommy Moolick. The Leixlip man picked out Daniel Flynn who powered towards goal, rounded the goalkeeper and found the net.
Donegal responded with a point from Ódhran MacNiallais, and Hugh McFadden stroked over another score from close range to cut the gap to just one point after 10 minutes. Feely doubled that advantage with a point from a free after Niall Kelly was fouled in the full-forward line, and Kildare were looking in rude health at that stage.
Then came the controversial decision as Gough brandished two yellows to Doyle in the space of a minute, but Kildare responded well to the setback as Johnny Byrne angled over a nice score. Michael Murphy and Feely then traded points from frees, but two points from play courtesy of Paddy McBrearty brought Donegal to within one as Kildare went into the turnaround with a 1-3 to 0-5 lead.
The home side immediately levelled matters upon the restart as Murphy floated over a beautiful point to ensure parity for the first time in the game. Kevin Flynn, on his league debut, scored a fine point within a minute of his introduction as a second half substitute for Cian O’Donoghue, but the Ulster men responded with scores from Jamie Brennan and Eoghan Bán Gallagher to take the lead for the first time. Further scores from Niall O’Donnell and the lively McBrearty pushed the hosts three clear soon after.
Kildare, however, showed their eye for goal straight after as Daniel Flynn and Tommy Moolick combined superbly to set Niall Kelly in on goal, and the Athy man coolly found the bottom corner. Fergal Conway followed that up with a point to send Kildare back into the lead with 47 minutes gone, but they failed to kick on after that as Donegal regained control.
Two points from Ryan McHugh either side of one from Murphy pushed Declan Bonner’s men back into a two-point advantage, before McBrearty got his third of the afternoon with a good point from play.
The Lilywhites pulled themselves level when Johnny Byrne’s brilliant run gave Peter Kelly a chance to get in on goal, and he supplied David Slattery with the chance to net from close range.
It never got any better than that however, as a fine point from Hugh McFadden was followed by a fluke goal from Ryan McHugh as his looping shot for a point dropped over the head of Mark Donnellan and into the net. Another score from Murphy sealed the win for Donegal as they raced four points clear going into injury time, and despite Daniel Flynn and Feely scoring late on for Kildare, they couldn’t find a goal that would help them to a positive result.
Scorers for Donegal: R McHugh 1-2, M Murphy and P McBrearty 0-4 each, O MacNiallais, N O'Donnell, J Brennan, H McFadden and E Gallagher 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kildare: D Flynn 1-1, N Kelly and D Slattery 1-0 each, K Feely 0-3f, F Conway, K Flynn and J Byrne 0-1 each.