TG4 Leinster Senior championship Kildare 2-4 Dublin 1-14
By Jackie Whelan
Dublin were the opposition for Kildares opener in the Leinster senior preliminary round. It was the first ten minutes that Kildare needed to keep the scoring of their opposition to a minimum as it was during this time that the Dubs had clocked up some high scores in previous games. Although Dublin scored the three opening scores of the game, Kildare put severe pressure on their attacking forwards. Kildare got off the mark with 17 minutes played through Eimear Fogarty after Moolick won a high ball. Fogarty added her second from a well take free a few minutes later. Catherine O'Malley was introduced early on in the half for Roisin Byrne. Olivia Leonard added a fourth for Dublin before Aine Gately added a third lilywhite point from a free. Just when Kildare were coming more and more in to the game with some good runs up the field, Niamh McEvoy was on hand to bury the ball past Mary Hulgraine in the Kildare goals. A few minutes later, Fogarty shot a powerful shot which hit off the bar and rebounded to a waiting O'Malley but All star keeper O'Connor stopped anything crossing the line. Fay snatched another point for the Dubs before the break. Half time score Kildare 0-3 Dublin 1-5. Kildare needed to get the second half off to a good start but it was the visitors who got the opening three points through McEvoy, Aherne and McGuinness. Kildare management acted fast and before long Donna Berry and Siobhan Hurley were introduced for O'Malley and Michelle Carey. Kildare began to settle again to the task on hand and Moolick who was a thorn in the Dublin defence scored a great point quickly followed by an Aine Gately goal which she tucked away on the rebound. Brianne Leahy was sin binned for a tackle which the ref considered a high one and during her absence, Dublin racked up 5 points. The Kildare girls never gave up and battled right up to the end. Mary Hulgraine came off her line to put away a penalty late in the game to bring the deficit back to 7 points. Kildare will rue missed goal chances as they would have made the game much closer. The huge positive for Kildare is that they competed with their neighbours which hadnt happened in previous games. The reappearance of familiar faces, in particular Brianne Leahy, boosted the entire outfit. The introduction of Erica Burke along with Fogarty shows the future of Kildare ladies football. The girls face a five week wait now before their qualifier game. Best for Kildare were Kiri Lowry, Aisling Savage, Aisling Holton and Moolick who played a true captains role. Kildare scorers came from Aine Gately 1-1, Mary Hulgraine 1-0 (pen), Eimear Fogarty 0-2 (1 f) and Maria Moolick 0-1. Dublin scorers came from Sinead Aherne 0-5, Niamh McEvoy 1-2, Amy McGuinness 0-2, Olivia Leonard 0-2, Ciara Murphy 0-1, Gemma Fay 0-1 and Fiona Hudson 0-1.
