Lillies fall to narrow defeat as Galway subs make the difference in league final

Galway 0-18

Allianz NFL Division 2 final

There'll be no silverware coming back across the Dublin border at Rathcoole this evening as Kildare fell to a narrow two-point defeat to a Galway side that were able to call on the likes of Michael Daly and Gareth Bradshaw from the bench to help them close out a hotly contested encounter.

A hoodoo had to be broken in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon no matter what. Kildare had failed to beat Galway for 32 years, a record that began in 1985 and reached its nadir when the Lilywhites lost to the Connacht men in the 1998 All-Ireland final. On Galway's part, they hadn't tasted success in Croke Park since 2001, losing eight times in headquarters over that 16 year period.

Cian O'Neill welcomed back all of the players whom he omitted from the starting line-up against the Tribesmen a week previous, with Sunday's game being all about the win and the glory of securing national silverware for just the second time in 89 years.

Kevin Walsh made two late changes to his Galway side before throw-in, the most significant of which was bringing in wing-back Liam Silke for full-forward Barry McHugh, thus further supplementing their defensive style as they squeezed 13 men behind the ball when not in possession. Galway opted to concede the kickout, meaning Mark Donnellan was easily able to find the likes of Johnny Byrne, Eoin Doyle and David Hyland early on.

The lack of a contest on many of the kickouts probably played a part in the languid start to the game, and Kildare failed to get out of the blocks quickly. It took the Lilywhites 11 minutes to post their first score, which was a fine effort from a 50 metre free courtesy of Kevin Feely, but Galway had already scored two points by that stage. Both scores came from driving runs at the heart of the Kildare defence as Paul Conroy and Eamonn Brannigan hit the target for the Tribesmen.

Galway's accuracy on front of goal completely deserted them from that point onwards however, and they managed to kick a total of eight wides before Sean Armstrong tapped over their next score from play after 25 minutes.

Kildare came to life in that period however, with Niall Kelly and Fergal Conway central to their upturn in fortunes. Kelly fired over their first point from play midway through the half following a good burst from Chris Healy, before some fine intricate passing between Conway and his clubmate Ollie Lyons put the Athy man through to slot over his second point in as many minutes.

Kildare took the lead for the first time when Feely knocked over a close range free that was well won by Ben McCormack, but momentum swung back towards the Tribesmen after that. Armstrong's excellent point ended their miserable patch of shooting, and they could have had a goal just before the half hour mark when Johnny Heaney latched onto a hopeful ball from Gary O'Donnell, swiveled into space and fired a low shot at goal, but Donnellan got down superbly to block his attempt.

That seemed to inject a bit of life into Kildare, and David Hyland fired over a fine score after selling a dummy to his man, but O'Donnell replied by curling over a beautiful effort from the right wing into the Canal End shortly after. Mark Donnellan converted a '45 that looked to have given Kildare a half-time lead, but Shane Walsh levelled the contest with the last kick of the half as the sides went in at 0-6 apiece.

Kildare's start to the second half was far from ideal as they conceded two early points as Walsh and Armstrong raise white flags within a couple of minutes of the restart, while they were stripped of Paul Cribbin and Ben McCormack as they were forced off with injuries.

It seemed to galvanise Kildare rather than hinder them, and the injection of pace provided by Cathal McNally and David Slattery gave another dimension to the Lilywhites' attack. Fionn Dowling and Kevin Feely(free) tagged on points either side of a Johnny Heaney score, but Kildare upped the ante thereafter.

Niall Kelly burst into life during this period, and it was he who set up Cathal McNally for a fine score after Tommy Moolick had won a Galway kickout. Moolick was again central to Kildare's next score, winning another ball in midfield before finding Slattery, and the Confey man laid it into Keith Cribbin who drove the ball over the bar. More good work from the energetic Slattery helped create space for Kelly to curl over his third point of the afternoon, before Walsh eventually put an end to the Kildare run of scores by pointing at the other end.

Kelly continued to ooze class however, and though his wonderful long range effort required the use of Hawk Eye, it was arguably the score of the match. Heaney and Conway traded scores at either end before Kelly edged Kildare three points clear in the 54th minute, but Kevin Walsh began to ring the changes and it turned the tide of the game. They struck five points without reply in the space of eight minutes, the most eye-catching of which was a long range effort from Liam Silke.

Thar put the Connacht champions into a two-point lead with seven minutes left to play, and there was a palpable sense of relief when Feely finally halted Galway's dominance by scoring from close range. Substitute Gareth Bradshaw restored the two-point cushion for Galway as the game ticked towards stoppage time, and Kildare really needed something special to force a comeback.

Moolick pulled the gap into one score, but a final point from the excellent Daly ensured that Galway would be bringing the Division 2 title across the Shannon.

Scorers for Kildare: N Kelly 0-5, K Feely 0-4(3f), C McNally, T Moolick, F Conway, F Dowling, M Donnellan('45), D Hyland and K Cribbin 0-1 each.

Scorers for Galway: S Walsh and S Armstrong(1f) 0-3 each, J Heaney, M Daly, G O'Donnell and P Conroy 0-2 each, G Bradshaw, E Brannigan, L Silke and G Sice(1f) 0-1 each.

Kildare

M Donnellan; M O'Grady, D Hyland, O Lyons; J Byrne, E Doyle, K Cribbin(P Kelly 65mins); K Feely, T Moolick; F Conway, F Dowling(E Callaghan 65mins), P Cribbin(C McNally 39mins); C Healy, N Kelly, B McCormack(D Slattery 43mins).

Galway

R Lavelle; D Wynne, D Kyne, C Sweeney; G O'Donnell, L Silke, M Farragher(G Bradshaw 57mins); F Ó'Curraoin, P Conroy; E Brannigan(M Daly 59mins), S Walsh(I Burke 68mins), T Flynn; G Sice(M Lundy 54mins), J Heaney, S Armstrong(D Comer 63mins).