Heroic effort from 14-man Kildare falls just short as Meath edge thriller

Meath 1-21

Christy Ring Cup semi-final

It was an incredibly brave performance from Kildare, but in the end it wasn't enough as they fell to an agonising three point loss at the hands of a hugely committed Meath side in St Conleth's Park on Sunday afternoon. The Lilywhites played with 14 men for more than three quarters of the match following the dismissal of captain Paul Divilly after 17 minutes, but they showed heart and determination to stay in the game and provide an absorbing contest for the large crowd that flocked into the Newbridge venue.

The game was ultimately won by Meath in a one minute spell as Divilly received his marching orders following an off the ball incident which left Meath's Damian Healy in a heap on the ground, while the Royals went up the field and found the net through Gavin McGowan just a minute later. That put the visitors six points ahead, and it looked like they would steamroll Kildare from that point, but they stuck to their task and made a serious contest of it.

An extremely lively opening to the game saw both sides score four points apiece in the first ten minutes as both forward lines looked sharp whenever the ball was sprayed into them.

McGowan started the game in blistering fashion as he won the first ball played towards him out on front of Ross Bergin, and he applied a neat finish from a tight angle to open the scoring. Conor Gordon was then tasked with picking up the livewire corner-forward, but he couldn't prevent him from striking a second score in the space of two minutes when he pointed from long range.

Gerry Keegan settled Kildare into the game with his first point from a free, though the unerringly accurate James Toher cancelled that score out almost immediately through a free at the other end. Points from dualstar Johnny Byrne, Mark Delaney and Keegan were just reward for Kildare's growing confidence in the game, while Toher was continuing to punish every Kildare indiscretion with his prowess from placed balls. The Trim clubman struck three unanswered points in the space of five minutes to drive the Royals into a 0-7 to 0-4 lead.

Then came the major incidents of the game as Divilly was given his marching orders, before Meath went up the far end and found a goal through McGowan as he skipped by the challenge of Conor Gordon and fired a low shot past Paul Dermody.

Kildare could have dropped their heads as they faced into the daunting task of clawing back a six point deficit with a numerical disadvantage, but they bravely stuck to their task and began digging out scores. Keegan delivered four of those from frees in quick succession as he cut the gap to two points by himself, though Toher stroked over two of his own soon after to re-establish a four point lead for the Royals.

Keegan and Toher continued their shootout as they traded points at either end before the break, but excellent scores from Martin Fitzgerald and Gerry Keegan sent the sides in at the break with Meath leading 1-10 to 0-11.

The second half began in the exact same way as the first, with McGowan firing over a tidy score to get proceedings underway once again. The contest began to seesaw as Mark Moloney, Keegan and Fitzgerald all found the target with varying degrees of exquisite scores, while Sean Heavey, Toher and Neil Heffernan all found the target for the Royals.

Leo Quinn, who was a late addition to the side before throw-in, reduced the gap to two scores once again when he found the target from close range after some fantastic work by blood sub Paudie Ryan. Toher again cancelled out that score with a brace of points for Meath as they continued to keep Kildare at arms length.

There was always a lingering feeling that Kildare needed a goal, though the opportunities to score one didn't come around too often. When Quinn had a low driven shot saved by Meath 'keeper Shane McCann in an unorthodox fashion, you got the feeling that it was just not going to be Kildare's afternoon.

Keegan salvaged something from the move by pointing the resulting '65, but two scores from Clynch either side of a huge free from Toher put them six clear with 15 minutes left to play.

Kildare then showed real bottle to pull their opponents back as a trio of scores from Keegan and one each from Delaney and Jack Sheridan cut the gap to one point as the game entered added time. Meath held firm however, and points from Toher and Clynch eventually helped push them over the line towards a three point win and a first ever Christy Ring Cup final appearance.

For Kildare, their season is over as the players will go back to their clubs in preparation for the Kildare club championships.

Scorers for Kildare: G Keegan 0-12(9f, 1'65), M Delaney and M Fitzgerald 0-2 each, J Sheridan, L Quinn, P Cocoman, J Byrne and M Grace 0-1 each.

Scorers for Meath: J Toher 0-12(9f), G McGowan 1-3, S Clynch 0-3, S Morris, S Heavey, N Heffernan 0-1 each.

Kildare

P Dermody; R Bergin, J Doran, C Gordon; S Gainey, M Moloney, M Grace; M Fitzgerald, N O'Muineachain; P Cocoman(J Sheridan h/t), P Divilly, L Quinn(B Byrne 57mins); M Delaney, G Keegan, J Byrne.

Meath

S McCann; C Reilly(S Quigley 64mins), D Donoghue, S Whitty(R Sherlock 14mins); S Brennan, D Healy, K Keoghan; S Heavey, S Morris; J Toher, J Keena(S Geraghty h/t), A Gannon; G McGowan, N Heffernan(K Keena 52mins), S Clynch.