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Details

Date Time Competition Season
15 May 2022 2:15 pm Leinster SFC 2022

Match Report

Leinster SFC: Kildare seal final spot over Westmeath

Kildare booked their place in the Leinster Final with a deserved win over a battling Westmeath side in Croke Park this afternoon.

Three points was the difference in the end but once Kildare took the lead they didn’t look like they’d relinquish it. 

All the goals were scored in the first half. Within 12 seconds of the start Ronan O’Toole found the net for Westmeath. Jimmy Hyland replied for Kildare while just before the break Jamie Gonoud goalled. 

Kildare bossed the second half and were ahead by seven points in the 60th minute. Credit to Westmeath they fought until the end but were beaten by the better team. Darragh Kirwan impressed for the Lilywhites while Ben McCormack and Jimmy Hyland all contributed. Ray Connellan and Sam McCartan worked hard for Westmeath. 

Just 12 seconds had gone on the clock when Ronan O’Toole found the back of the net to give Westmeath a dream start. Kildare were within one of the Lake County in the sixth minute and two minutes later they took the lead; a poor kick-out fell to Daniel Flynn and his pass was fisted to the net by Hyland.

McCormack, Paul Cribbin and Darragh Kirwan kicked over points as Kildare extended their lead to six in the 19th minute. Westmeath made mistakes which Kildare duly punished. John Heslin and Nigel Harte fired over points for Westmeath but in the 31st minute the Lilywhites restored their six point advantage.

Both sides had been guilty of poor misses but Westmeath were back in the game in the 33rd minute with a goal from Jamie Gonoud but right before half-time Kevin Flynn pointed over to give Kildare a four point lead - 1-13 to 2-06.

Kildare extended the lead to five points inside the opening minute of the second half when Daniel Flynn pointed. Fine points from Connellan and McCartan cut the deficit to three after 38 minutes but Kildare were always able to keep a gap between themselves and Westmeath.

Kirwan put seven between the sides with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, but that was Kildare’s final score of the game. McCartan (two), O’Toole and John Heslin all kicked over late scores. It’s now the Táilteann Cup for the Lake County while Kildare play the winners of Dublin and Meath in the Leinster Final.

Kildare

1Mark Donnellan Goalkeeper
2Mick O’Grady Defender
3Shea Ryan Defender
4Mike Joyce Defender
5Tony Archbold Defender 17'
72'
6James Murray Defender
7Kevin Flynn Defender 34'
8Kevin Feely Midfielder
9Kevin O’Callaghan Midfielder
10Alex Beirne Forward 20'
11Ben McCormack Forward 1', 4', 16', 35', 52'
12Paul Cribbin Forward 12'
20'
13Darragh Kirwan Forward 10', 29', 39', 44', 45'
14Daniel Flynn Forward 6', 36'
66'
15Jimmy Hyland Forward 7'
14', 31', 40', 46'
Neil Flynn 15 68'
David Hyland 4 Defender
Fergal Conway 9
Paddy McDermott 12 Defender

Westmeath

1Jason Daly Goalkeeper
2Jack Smith Defender
3Kevin Maguire Defender
4David Giles Defender
5Jamie Gonoud Defender 33'
6Ronan Wallace Defender
7Nigel Harte Defender 27'
8Jonathan Lynam Midfielder
9Ray Connellan Midfielder 37', 47'
10Sam McCartan Forward 16', 37', 64'
11Ronan O’Toole Forward 1'
4', 52', 65'
12David Lynch Forward
19Ger Egan Forward
14John Heslin Forward 9', 25', 31'
15Alex Gardiner Forward
Luke Loughlin 8 Forward 44'
James Dolan Defender
Kieran Martin 19
Sam Duncan 15
  • 73'

    Sam McCartan with another point.. 3 point game with time nearly up

  • 71'

    Heslin with a point to cut the gap to four points

  • 67'

    Neill Flynn kicks over a free

  • 66'

    Ronan O'Toole with a fine point

  • 64'

    Another point for Sam McCartan

  • 51'

    Mick Joyce is off

  • 51'

    David Hyland is on for Kildare

  • 48'

    Paul Cribbin off

  • 48'

    Paul McDermott on for Kildare

  • 53'

    David Lynch off

  • 53'

    James Dolan on for Westmeath

  • 49'

    Alex Gardiner off

  • 49'

    Sam Duncan on for Westmeath

  • 53'

    Ronan O'Toole with a point

  • 52'

    Ben McCormack with a mark

  • 47'

    Ray Connellan with a point. Hawkeye was called on

  • 48'

    Jimmy Hyland with a point

  • 45'

    Darragh Kirwan with his fifth point

  • 44'

    Another point for Darragh Kirwan

  • 43'

    Fine point from Luke Loughlin

  • 41'

    Ger Egan looked to have been fouled but the referee feels he was the one fouling.

  • 40'

    Jimmy Hyland with a free

  • 39'

    Darragh Kirwan with a free

  • 37'

    Fantastic point from Ray Connellan

  • 37'

    Great point for Sam McCartan

  • 36'

    Daniel Flynn points to put five between the sides

  • 35'

    Ben McCormack with a point to leave four between them

  • 34'

    Jonathan Lynam is off

  • 34'

    Luke Loughlin on

  • 34'

    Kevin Flynn with a point for Kildare

  • 33'

    A goal from Gonoud brings Westmeath back into the game

  • 31'

    Good response from Westmeath as Heslin points

  • 31'

    Jimmy Hyland with a point for the Lilywhites

  • 29'

    Lovely point from Darragh Kirwan. Mistakes costing Westmeath

  • 27'

    Nigel Harte with the point after a pass from Ray Connellan

  • 25'

    John Heslin with a pointed free

  • 20'

    Paul Cribbin gets booked for a foul on Alex Gardiner

  • 20'

    Alex Beirne with a point for Kildare

  • 17'

    Tony Archibold with a point after a poor kick-out

  • 16'

    Ben McCormack with a point

  • 16'

    Sam McCartan with a fine point for the Lake County

  • 14'

    Hyland with a pointed free

  • 12'

    Paul Cribbin gets his name on the scoresheet

  • 10'

    Darragh Kirwan with a point for Kildare

  • 9'

    John Heslin with a point

  • 8'

    Poor kick-out - Daniel Flynn to Jimmy Hyland punches ball to the net.

  • 6'

    Kildare cut the gap to one point

  • 4'

    Ben McCormack replies with a point for Kildare

  • 1'

    Ben McCormack replies with a point for Kildare

  • 2'

    Ronan O'Toole with a point

  • 1'

    That goal came within the opening 12 seconds.

  • 1'

    Ronan O'Toole with a goal for Westmeath. What a start for Westmeath

  • One change for the Westmeath side - Ger Egan in for Lorcan Dolan.

  • Westmeath haven't been in a Leinster Final since 2015, while Kildare were beaten by Dublin last year in the final. In his first year as manager of his native Kildare, Glenn Ryan would love his side to get to the provincial final

  • Kildare booked their place in today's semi-final with a fine win over Louth while Westmeath got the better of their neighbours Longford in their quarter-final clash

  • These two sides met at this stage of the championship last year with Kildare winning by two points.

  • Welcome to this afternoon's coverage of the Leinster semi-final between Kildare and Westmeath. I'm Deniese O'Flaherty and will be taking you through all the action.

Past Meetings

Ground

Croke Park
Croke Park, Jones's Road, Dublin, D01 WY49, Ireland

Deniese is a freelance sports journalist/broadcaster. She has worked for several local and national media outlets. GAA and soccer are her great loves and she also follows rugby league and snooker. She's a big supporter of her local clubs St. Mary's GAA Granard and Longford Town. She also follows Celtic, Liverpool and Leeds Rhinos. She presented and produced a popular sports podcast last year where she interviewed Ray Houghton, Chris Kamara and John Hartson. Deniese is currently Head of Communications for Boccia Ireland