Leinster Senior Football Championship semi-final: Dublin 5-18 Kildare 0-14
AFTER the madness, the majesty. Dublin strode the same Croke Park turf as Westmeath and Meath had earlier on Sunday afternoon, but found victory altogether easier to chisel out.
Instead of coming from 10 down to etch their names in history as Westmeath were required to do, the Dubs simply did what they’ve become accustomed to in Leinster and steamrolled their outclassed opposition from start-to-finish.
First half goals from Dean Rock, Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly put Dublin into a winning position and Connolly and Brogan would find the net for a second time in the second half.
In front of a 50,324 crowd at Croke Park, they were cool and composed and backed up their 27-point quarter-final win over Longford with a 19-point demolition. One can only imagine what fate awaits Westmeath in next month’s provincial final.
Kildare hinted, with a thrilling second half performance against Laois in their Leinster quarter-final replay, that they could meet Dublin’s challenge with power and purpose. But it proved to be yet another provincial mismatch.
With just 17 minutes on the clock, Dublin led 2-7 to 0-2 and it was hard to envision any way back even at that stage for the Lilies. As it turned out, they would go on to ship even more punishment from a thoroughly clinical and efficient Dublin team.
As ever, Dublin manager Jim Gavin kept it low key. Asked if he’d been keen to avoid a six day turnaround with the Qualifiers, he said he didn’t know that was the case. And when it came to Westmeath, he flatly refused to discuss them. He was slightly more open on the issue of Dublin potentially reaching the All-Ireland series without a proper test again.
“Well, we could have faced defeat today if we’d decided not to show up,” he said.
“It’s a matter for ourselves to prepare as best we can, that’s all we can do. There are no guarantees. If the mindset wasn’t good today, we couldn’t have come away with the result. So we’ll keep going after that.”
Kildare manager Jason Ryan could hardly say the same, though he looked to the bigger picture.
“Kildare haven’t won a Leinster Championship since 2000,” said Ryan.
“They won in 1998, but it was quite a while and facing a number of heavy defeats against Dublin. They learned and they developed as a team and stuck together. That’s what this group needs to do.
"Today’s disappointing for the seniors, but it’s a day that Kildare GAA should be happy with as well. Our minors had a fantastic win today against Dublin, putting up a huge score.”
Kildare coughed up a first goal inside 10 minutes to Rock and Brogan would strike for the second after just 13 minutes. It was a slightly bizarre episode as Brogan found space and drilled a shot, but instead of striking the net, the ball hit Connolly flush on the head. Connolly was dazed but fine and the ball had crossed the goal line.
Kildare briefly came into the game with points from Cathal McNally, Eoghan O’Flaherty and Pádraig Fogarty, two, but Dublin’s third goal in first half injury-time summed up their overall dominance and handed them a 3-10 to 0-6 interval lead. Connnolly was the one dispatching the shot this time, curling a clever finish to the right corner after typically finding space in a crowded goal area.
Kildare had an improved third quarter and shot four points on the trot at one stage through Alan Smith, Niall Kelly and O’Flaherty. But there was to be no Westmeath-like comeback and the introduction of Alan Brogan steadied Dublin. He shot three points and played in the ball that led to Rock being fouled for the 64th minute penalty that Connolly dispatched.
Connolly finished with 2-3 and Brogan matched that tally when he palmed in Dublin’s fifth goal at the death.
Dublin: S Cluxton; P McMahon (0-1), J Cooper, R O’Carroll; J Small, C O’Sullivan, J McCaffrey; B Fenton, MD Macauley; P Flynn, K McManamon, C Kilkenny (0-4); D Rock, (1-4, 0-4f) D Connolly (2-3), B Brogan (2-3); Subs: J McCarthy for Small (43); A Brogan (0-3) for McManamon (43); P Andrews for Flynn (58); M Fitzsimons for O’Carroll (58); E O Conghaile for Fenton (63); D Daly for O’Sullivan (64).
Kildare: M Donnellan; O Lyons, M O’Grady, C Fitzpatrick; K Murnaghan, E Doyle, E Bolton (0-1); G White, P Cribbin (0-1); P O’Neill (0-2), E O’Flaherty (0-4, 0-2f), C McNally (0-1); A Smith (0-1), P Fogarty (0-3), E Callaghan; Subs: N Kelly (0-1) for Callaghan (46); T Moolick for White (46); H Lynch for McNally (55); C Heeney for Donnellan (63, black card); F Dowling for Bolton (66).
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).
