Leitrim push Kildare all the way to the finish

Adversity seems to bring out the best in Leitrim as an understrength Green & Gold defied the expectations as they put favourites Kildare to the pin of their collars before succumbing to a seven point defeat in the final group game in this year’s Tailteann Cup.

With Pearce Dolan and Jack Gilheaney both ruled out of action due to injury, Riordan O’Rourke held in reserve and Paul Keaney not seeing any action, you’d have thought that Kildare would have run through Andy Moran’s side, particularly given both teams’ respective results against Waterford and Longford.

But just as they had against Wexford and Laois in the league, Leitrim dug deep within themselves to find a streak of defiance, their massed defence complimented by a clever counter-attacking strategy that saw them cut a six point Kildare halftime lead by to just two points midway through the second half.

Ultimately, in the blistering heat of Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, Leitrim were unable to maintain their momentum as Glenn Ryan’s side outscored the Green & Gold six points to one down the final stretch with the inspirational Darragh Kirwan landing four of those points to seal a precious victory.

The win gives Kildare a free weekend ahead of the quarter-finals while Leitrim head into next weekend’s preliminary quarter-finals where they could come against one of New York, London, Tipperary and Wicklow, games that Andy Moran will rightly feel that his team have more than a good chance of winning.

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With both teams flooding their defences, it took time for either to create any chances before Niall Kelly curled a lovely effort over the bar on four minutes. Darragh Kirwan added a second four minutes later after a block on a Mark Plunkett shot led to a swift counter-attack.

Leitrim settled when Tom Prior cut inside from the right wing to fire over from 30 yards but Kildare answered almost immediately with a Paddy Woodgate free after a foul on Paddy McDermott. 

Leitrim had one of those what if moments 12 minutes into the game when Ryan O’Rourke burned his man on the outside but saw his close range shot saved by Mark Donnellan at the expense of a fifty that Nevin O’Donnell curled narrowly wide, a goal that might have shaken the game up.

The impressive Kirwan booted over from over 50 years to put Kildare three clear but after a bad McDermott wide, Mark Plunkett got on the end of a good move involving Darragh Rooney and Ryan O’Rourke to point after 16 minutes.

The Leitrim team who lost to Kildare in the Tailteann Cup in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park Picture: Willie Donnellan

At this stage, Kildare were hitting two for every one of Leitrim’s points with Kirwan and Kevin Feely (free) stretching their lead to four points but good work from Ryan O’Rourke and Ben Guckian led to Rooney firing over from play before he converted a free after his lone break almost saw him break through Kildare’s last line of defence.

Paddy McDermott and the excellent Prior swapped scores but Kildare grabbed the game’s most important score six minutes before the break when they put together an intricate passing in along the left endline that ended with Niall Kelly driving to the Leitrim net from close range.

Woodgate would add another free in added time as Kildare led 1-8 to 0-5 at the break and the feeling was the Lilywhites would push on in the second half, a feeling reinforced when halftime sub Alex Beirne cracked an audacious 30 yard shot off the Leitrim crossbar with Nevin O’Donnell rooted to the spot.

Leitrim broke downfield with Mark Plunkett firing over from distance but Kildare wing-back Jack Sargent replied with a good point. Kildare were creating chances but worryingly for them, their by now familiar attacking yips came back to haunt them as they started to miss some chances.

Those misses seemed to infuse Leitrim with belief and after Barry McNulty converted a free for a foul on Rooney, Mark Plunkett pounced on a terrible Kildare kickout to fire over, the gap back to four points. Leitrim were starting to build up a fierce head of steam with McNulty making a huge catch from a Leitrim kickout and broke free before off-loading to Aidan Flynn for an excellent point on 47 minutes.

Paddy Woodgate converted a fifty yard free to halt Leitrim’s momentum but Leitrim weren’t to be denied and Cathal McHugh hit his first Leitrim point, a wonderful effort from the left hand corner to match his fellow corner-back Flynn on the scoresheet.

Kildare missed a couple of great chances as the Green & Gold fans were beginning to find their voice, Tom Prior’s good work releasing Darragh Rooney for a booming 40 yard point to cut the gap back to just two points with a quarter of the game left.

Unfortunately, Leitrim were to score just once more, deep into injury time as Kildare began to find a bit of space and rhythm even if they were never entirely comfortable. Kirwan hit an excellent effort after Kildare forced a Leitrim turnover and now it was Leitrim’s turn to hit wides, Donal Wrynn, McNulty (free), O’Donnell (fifty), Rooney (free) and Riordan O’Rourke all missing chances over the next 15 minutes.

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Kildare, however, turned to superb Darragh Kirwan to guide them home and he didn’t disappoint, hitting three points before the end to go with a Woodgate free and a Paddy McDermott effort from play as the Lilywhites eased to the victory.

Leitrim did finish with a point, Ryan O’Rourke getting his only score of the game, a stat that belies his contribution but Kildare went home with a seven point victory.

KILDARE

Scorers: Darragh Kirwan 0-7; Paddy Woodgate 0-4, 4f; Niall Kelly 1-1; Paddy McDermott 0-2, Kevin Feely (f) & Jack Sargent 0-1 each

Team: Mark Donnellan; Mick O’Grady, Shea Ryan, Ryan Burke; Tony Archbold, Brian Byrne, Jack Sargent; Aaron Masterson, Kevin Flynn; Shane Farrell, Darragh Kirwan, Paddy McDermott; Paddy Woodgate, Niall Kelly, Kevin Feely. Subs: Alex Beirne for Shane Farrell (HT); Kevin O'Callaghan for Kevin Flynn (46); Barry Kelly for Niall Kelly (55); Ryan Houlihan for Ryan Burke ((53); Shane O'Sullivan for Aaron Masterson (63)

LEITRIM

Scorers: Darragh Rooney (2f) & Mark Plunkett 0-3 each; Tom Prior 0-2; Aidan Flynn, Cathal McHugh, Barry McNulty (f) & Ryan O'Rourke 0-1 each

Team: Nevin O’Donnell; Cathal McHugh, Mark Diffley, Aidan Flynn; Donal Wrynn, Radek Oberwan, Tom Prior; Mark Plunkett, Barry McNulty; Jack Foley, Kieran Clancy, Ryan O'Rourke; Ben Guckian, Darragh Rooney, James Rooney, Paul Keaney. Subs: Riordan O'Rourke for Kieran Clancy (HT); Arek Oberwan for Redek Oberwan (53 minutes); Darren Cox & Conor Reynolds for Ben Guckian & McHugh (53)

Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan)