Kildare book a Leinster final spot
Relief at the final whistle as Jack O'Connor's men march on
Kildare are through the Leinster SFC of 2021 following a hard earned win over Westmeath in Croke Park this afternoon.
It was a game that ebbed and flowed, Kildare, although leading at the break by one, would feel it should be been more, with two gilt edged goal chances spurned but Westmeath showed that while they may not have had the best of seasons to date they certainly showed they meant business.
Kildare suffered a huge blow with Kevin Feely picking up a bad knee injury.
The half time score read Kildare 0-11 Westmeath 0-10.
It was to goals inside four minutes that proved the difference between the sides, with Daniel Flynn heavily involved in both.
The first, a brilliant pass to Jimmy Hyland saw the Ballyteague squeeze the ball over the line and a few minutes later it was a typical Daniel Flynn effort, cutting through the Westmeath before coolly planting the ball in the net to open up a six point gag.
Kildare lost Eoin Doyle to a hamstring as Westmeath piled the pressure, getting the lead back to one but failing to get level at any stage, despite a lot of possession but failing to find the posts was the problem.
Kildare kept their noses in front and a brilliant point late on from Shane O'Sullivan ensured The Lilies will be back in two weeks time for the Leinster final.
Scorers: Kildare, Neil Flynn 0-7 (4 frees, 45), Jimmy Hyland 1-1 (free), Daniel Flynn 1-1, Alex Beirne 0-1, Fergal Conway 0-1, Kevin Feely 0-1, Aaron Masterson 0-1, Shane O'Sulivan 0-1.
Westmeath, John Heslin 0-8 (7 frees), Lorcan Dolan 0-5 (1 mark), David Lynch 0-1, Ger Egan 0-1, James Dolan 0-1, Sam McCartan 0-1 (45), darren Giles 0-1.
KILDARE: Mark Donnellan; Mark Dempsey, Mick O'Grady, Eoin Doyle; Kevin Flynn, David Hyland cpt., Ryan Houlihan; Kevin Feely, Aaron Masterson; Alex Beirne, Fergal Conway, Neil Flynn; Daniel Flynn, Ben McCormack, Jimmy Hyland. Subs: Shea Ryan for Kevin Feely (33 minutes); Daragh Malone for Ryan Houlihan (half time); Shane O'Sullivan for Ben McCormack (half time); Paddy McDermott for Eoin Doyle (51 minutes): Brian McLoughlin for Jimmy Hyland (67 minutes).
WESTMEATH: Jason Daly; Jack Smith, Kevin Maguire, Boidu Sayeh; James Dolan, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan; Ray Connellan, Sam Duncan; Denis Corroon, Ger Egan, David Lynch; Lorcan Dolan, John Heslin, Ronan O'Toole. Subs: Darren Giles for Boidu Sayeh (44 minutes); Fola Ayorinde for Denis Corroon (51 minutes); Nigel Harte for Sam McCartan (72 minutes).
REFEREE: Denis O'Mahoney, Tipperary