Kildare 2-12 Wexford 0-11

Kildare eased into the Leinster Championship semi-final with a comfortable victory over Wexford at a sunny Dr Cullen Park.

In game played in near perfect conditions, the Lillywhites were rarely troubled by a Wexford side that were always off the pace and visibly tired as the game went on.

Kieran McGeeney's men hit the ground running, claim two unanswered points as Wexford struggled to get into their first Championship game of the season.

The Lillywhites further extended their lead when Alan Smith found the back of the net for the game's first goal after some nice build-up play from Ronan Sweeney.

It took 16 minutes for Wexford to claim their first point and it came when full-back Phillip Wallace was fouled by Andrew McLoughlin allowing Shane Cullen to slot it over.

After that Wexford threatened to force their way into the game with Ciarán Lyng claiming three points in quick succession to reduce the deficit to a point in their best spell of the game.

However Kildare hit back through a Padraig O'Neill point after some patient build up, before James Cavanagh wasted a golden chance to score his side's second goal. Johnny Doyle cleverly flicked the ball through to him but his effort on goal went just over for a point.

Lyng, found his range again for his fourth of the afternoon before Johnny Doyle and Daryl Flynn struck back for the Lillywhites to leave the score at 1-06 to 0-06 at the break.

McGeeney made a change with Declan Brennan coming in for Andrew McLoughlin at left-corner-back to deal with the troublesome Lyng.

Littlewhites veteran Dermot Earley claimed the first score the second half with his neatly taken point as spectators had to endure some ragged early second-half play from both sides and the game struggled to find its rhythm.

However, Earley began to exert his control in midfield and claimed another point after some neat interplay between himself and Cavanagh before he made another by taking a beautiful catch and cleverly laying the ball off, allowing Smith to claim a point and extend Kildare's lead to six points

Wexford's forays forward were becoming increasingly rare and being met with some stiff opposition. Redmond Barry took it upon himself to embark on a fine solo run but there was no support and he had to settle for a free-kick which Lyng converted.

Kildare all but sealed the win shortly afterwards with the game's second goal which came about after some fine intricate interplay between Doyle and Cavanagh ended with Cavanagh being presented with a simple tap-in, which he gratefully accepted.

Kildare shut up shop after that score, putting a strangle hold on things in defence, and while Cullen was always a danger for the Model County from free-kicks, they were simply unable to fashion the goal chance they needed and further points from Cavanagh and Smith helped the Lillywhites to a 2-12 to 0-11 victory.

Kildare: T Corley, H McGrillen, M Foley, A MacLochlainn, M O' Flaherty, B Flanagan, E Bolton, D Flynn (0-1), D Earley (0-2), R Sweeney, P O Neill (0-2), J Kavanagh (1-3), A Smith (1-3), E Callaghan, J Doyle (0-1)

Subs: D Brennan for MacLochlainn (h-t), R Kelly for Flynn (53), E O'Flaherty for Doyle (63), A Rainbow for M O'Flaherty (66)

Wexford: A Masterson, B Malone, P Wallace, G Molloy, C Morris, D Murphy, A Doyle, B Doyle, E Bradley (0-1), A Morrissey, R Barry, C Byrne, C Lyng (0-5, 1f), S Cullen (0-5, 5f), PJ Banville.

Subs: N Murphy for Byrne (28), S Roche for A Doyle (45), D Fogarty for B Doyle (50), P Colfer for Wallace (65)