Kildare ease into life under the new rules with straightforward win over Carlow in the O'Byrne Cup

O’Byrne Cup round two

Kildare’s initial foray into the 2019 season began with a comprehensive seven-point win over Carlow in a wet and windy St Conleth’s Park on Saturday afternoon.

It was a useful run out for Cian O’Neill’s side who looked quite comfortable under the new rules, as they eased their way to victory in what was a sometimes fiery encounter with the Barrowsiders.

Storm Deirdre wasn’t quite at the levels you might expect from a weatherfront that has been given its own name, and for long spells she underwhelmed, but crucially did enough to make life difficult for both sets of players.

The horizontal rain made fleeting appearances in the first half, but there was some decent foot-passing on display from the home side at least as they looked well coached in the new style that had to be adapted under the trialled rules. Indeed it suited the Lilywhites, especially the rule which forces the goalkeeper to kick beyond the ’45 from his restarts, meaning there were plenty of contestable balls around the middle. From there, Kevin Feely and Paul Cribbin were utterly dominant as Carlow lost the majority of their own kickouts, with Kildare claiming three marks to Carlow’s tally of one in the first 35 minutes.

The offensive mark suited Jimmy Hyland down to a tee, with the spritely Ballyteague forward consistently finding space to run into and claim passes that were being accurately sent in by the players further out the field. He scored three points from frees that came from offensive marks. At the other end, debutant Mark Barrett was assured alongside his fellow Marks, Dempsey and Hyland, as they nullified the little threat that was being presented by an almost non-existent Carlow attack. For their part, Carlow weren’t able to get enough ball into their forward line as the Kildare players worked tirelessly to shut down their providers further out the field. Ben McCormack looked especially intent on tracking back and turning ball over, but his greatest input came in the attacking third as he clipped over an excellent opening score in the first minute.

Neill Flynn fired over a couple of long range frees as Kildare wrestled control of the tie from an early stage. McCormack was then sent to the line for 10 minutes as he was sin-binned for a rather silly late hit on Kieran Nolan, but he at least had shelter from the heaviest bout of rain for a short spell under the dugout.

The first offensive mark of the season was registered by Hyland as he caught a pass from Feely, before curling over the resultant kick. A minute later Eoghan O’Flaherty bombed over a sensational point from distance, before Hyland repeated his trick by scoring a point from another offensive mark.

Flynn and Hyland scored further points to send Kildare into an 0-8 to no score lead after 23 minutes, before Carlow eventually opened their own account two minutes later when Daniel St Ledger stroked over a point from a free. O’Flaherty and Darragh Foley traded scores at either end, before McCormack – fresh into the fold after his sin bin – curled over a quite sensational score from the left wing. A fine score worked off a Neill Flynn sideline ball that finished with Feely flicking it over off his left finished the first half action, with Kildare bringing an 0-11 to 0-2 lead into the dressing room at the break.

The second half was a much dourer affair as Kildare looked to have taken their foot off the gas somewhat, while Carlow managed to gained a bit more parity around the middle. The hosts were much more lateral with their passing, frequently playing it across the field rather than forward as the packed Carlow defence caused them problems.

While Flynn got the opening score of the new half, Carlow were the better side in the third quarter as they hit 1-2 without response. Their goal came as Brendan Murphy floated in a sideline ball that was knocked down by Darragh Foley towards Darren Lunney, who poked the ball into the net from close range.

Murphy and Foley raised white flags as Carlow briefly threatened an unlikely comeback when the gap was reduced to five points, but Kildare kept their neighbours at arms length thanks to a clutch of scores in the space of seven minutes. Flynn fired over a couple of points from frees either side of a fine score from Tommy Moolick and one from the hard-working Conor Hartley, and the game was pretty much over as it entered the final 10 minutes.

An already stop-start game was further disrupted by a lengthy injury stoppage as Carlow’s Conor Lawlor felt the brunt of a hit from Paul Cribbin, with the game being held up for almost 10 minutes as the defender was stretchered off with a worrying looking neck injury.

Cian O’Neill handed out a number of debuts late on, with Monasterevin U20 trio DJ Earley, John O’Toole and Padraig Nash all getting a run out for the first time at senior level, as did David Malone of Raheens and Kilcock’s Jason Gibbons.

Carlow got the last two points of the game, but it made little difference as Kildare managed to win an O’Byrne Cup game for the first time in almost two years.

Scorers for Kildare: N Flynn 0-6(5f), J Hyland 0-3f, B McCormack and E O’Flaherty 0-2 each, T Moolick, K Feely and C Hartley 0-1 each.

Scorers for Carlow: D Foley 0-3f, D Lunney 1-0, B Murphy 0-2, D St Ledger 0-1f.

Kildare

Mark Donnellan; Mark Dempsey, Mark Barrett, Mark Hyland; Cian O’Donoghue, Eoin Doyle, Keith Cribbin; Kevin Feely, Paul Cribbin; David Slattery, Eoghan O’Flaherty, Conor Hartley; Jimmy Hyland, Ben McCormack, Neill Flynn.

Subs used: Tommy Moolick for Feely HT, Padraig Fogarty for McCormack HT, Padraig Nash for O’Flaherty 58mins, Brian McLoughlin for J Hyland 60mins, Jason Gibbons for Slattery 62mins, DJ Earley for O’Donoghue 73mins, John O’Toole for Dempsey 73mins, Adam Tyrrell for Hartley 73mins, David Malone for M Hyland 73mins.

Carlow

Craig Kearney; John Murphy, Shane Redmond, Conor Lawlor; Kieran Nolan, Simon Doyle, Darren Lunney; Danny Moran, Chris Crowley; Conor Doyle, Darragh Foley, Lee Walker; Conor Crowley, Brendan Murphy, Daniel St Ledger.

Subs used: Robbie Kane for Conor Crowley 26mins, Josh Moore for K Nolan 48mins, Enda McGrath for S Doyle 58mins, Niall Lowry for Chris Crowley 62mins, Jack Kennedy for Conor Lawlor 65mins.