An injury-time winning point by Kevin Feeley gave Kildare a 1-16 to 1-15 victory over Roscommon at O’Connor Park in Tullamore this afternoon.

That win left the Lilywhites in second place in Group 3 of the All-Ireland series behind Dublin and means they have a home fixture in the preliminary quarterfinals, while the Rossies will have to play away from home next week after they finished in third place.

Cian McKeon got the first point of the match in the second minute for Roscommon before Neill Flynn levelled the score when he popped over a freekick for Kildare.

Kevin Feeley took a mark and stuck the ball over the ball from a good position in the eighth minute, 60 seconds later Daniel Flynn took a mark and converted to put the Lilies two points up.

Alex Beirne smashed in a first-time shot past Conor Walsh in the Roscommon goal after a fluid Kildare move that saw them keep the ball for a considerable amount of time.

Ciaran Murtagh’s free kick for the Primroses made it 1-2 to 0-2, however, the Lilywhites had their backs up and were looking in control of the game, Beirne kicked a point before being issued a black card for a tackle on McKeon.

A couple of minutes later Ryan Houlihan was also given a black card leaving Kildare down to 13 men and their grip on the game began to wane, if momentarily.

A couple of frees by Ciaran and Diarmuid Murtagh got the Rossies back into the match before Enda Smith’s goal after an Eoin Doyle mistake in the 27th minute turned the tie.

Dylan Ruane and McKeon finished the scoring in the first half to make the scoreline 1-6 to 1-4 in favour of Roscommon at the break.

The second half was more a case of tit-for-tat rather than any team pulling away with the lead.
Neill Flynn kicked things off with a free before Ciaran Murtagh skilfully scored his third point of the afternoon from a tight angle.

Beirne popped one over the bar in the 41st minute, then big Niall Daly stepped up the field and scored a massive point for the Rossies.

A series of free kicks then saw both sides exchange scores, Darragh Kirwan for Kildare, another Ciaran Murtagh point, and then Neill Flynn with his third of the game.

Enda Smith put Roscommon into the lead in the 47th minute before Flynn and Ben McCormack scored to bring Kildare level.

McCormack and Feeley put the Lilies ahead after a hectic period of play with both sides go all out for the win.

Smith and Ben O’Carroll scores turned the game yet again around the hour mark, while a great Kevin O’Callaghan point levelled the match once more.

Cian McKeon took a mark and converted to regain the lead, then Feeley did the same himself to tie the match. McCormack sent Kildare back into the lead with an outstanding score just before the end of regular time.

Enda Smith then popped up to equalise in the third minute of injury time with Roscommon happy then to take the draw.

That was not to be, however, as Feeley’s mark and brilliant point from a difficult angle gave the Lilywhites a deserved victory in Tullamore.