Laois 1-09 Kildare 1-12
Emmet Bolton scored a late goal to leave Laois in the relegation mire as Kildare recorded a 1-12 to 1-09 Allianz Football League Division 2 win in O'Moore Park.
When Damien O’Connor sent over with the outside of his right boot from wide on the right in the 69th minute, it looked as if Laois were safe in Division 2, while Kildare were facing a season in third tier.
Jason Ryan’s men had been coasting for much of the second half, but a strong final quarter seemed to have gotten Laois home.
Bolton popped up to finish a wonderful move for a dramatic 70th minute goal and Paul Cribbin followed up with a point before Donie Kingston was shown a straight red card to rub salt into Laois’ wounds.
The first four points came in the space of six minutes, but the scoring rate slowed dramatically thereafter.
Kildare got it going with a point from raiding half-back Emmet Bolton. Ross Munnelly equalised from a free and Donie Kingston finished well after a 30m run to give the home team the lead.
The Lilies had a period of dominance and Tomás Ó Flatharta had two substitutes introduced by the 20th minute. Kildare managed to push two points ahead, which was as clear as either team got in the first half.
Eoghan O’Flaherty converted a free and then arced over splendidly into the wind from a tight angle on the right, but Niall Donoher replied with a brace for Laois.
Niall Kelly started for Kildare even though he will be playing for the U21s in Thursday’s Leinster final and he kicked a point, but also wasted two good goal chances.
The second arrived just before the break, but he shot straight at Graham Brody. From the rebound, Laois gathered possession and worked the ball up the length of the field for Evan O’Carroll to make it 0-5 apiece at half-time.
Kildare’s need was probably greatest as they were propping up the table and that was evident as they flew out of the traps from the restart.
They had three points on the board in four minutes, with Kelly putting them in front with a tidy finish.
Goalkeeper Mark Donnellan made no mistake from a 45 before Alan Smith continued the excellent impression he was creating on his first outing of the campaign – his first marker, Gearoid Hanrahan was removed after 15 minutes - with a delightful score.
It got better, as Smith provided the assist for Fogarty, who fisted over the Sarsfields man’s diagonal delivery before Fogarty punished a foul on the darting corner man to make it a five-point game.
Any time Laois did manage to get into the opposition half, they found themselves getting turned over all too regularly. Before long, captain Ross Munnelly was being replaced by Billy Sheehan, as Ó Flatharta looked for a spark.
They finally kicked their opening score of the second half from a Kingston free in the 55th minute. Within a minute, the full-forward was setting up Colm Begley for a goal and when he converted another free, the teams were level entering the final ten minutes.
Suddenly Laois were winning all the breaks and Begley put them in front. Fogarty levelled from a free, but Damien O’Connor restored the hosts’ advantage with a brilliant point in the 69th minute.
It looked curtains for Kildare but they answered in the best possible fashion.
Scorers – Kildare: E Bolton 1-1; P Fogarty 0-3(2fs); E O’Flaherty (1f), N Kelly, P Cribbin 0-2 each; M Donnellan (45), A Smith 0-1 each.
Laois: C Begley 1-1; D Kingston 0-3(2fs); N Donoher 0-2; E O’Carroll, D O’Connor, R Munnelly (f) 0-1 each.
Kildare: M Donnellan, C Fitzpatrick, M O’Grady, O Lyons, K Cribbin, F Conway, P Kelly, G White, P Cribbin, N Kelly, E O’Flaherty, E Bolton, F Dowling, P Fogarty, A Smith. Subs: T Moolick for Dowling (57), K Murnaghan for P Kelly (64), M Conway for N Kelly (64), C McNally for White (68), T O’Connor for O’Flaherty (70+1).
Laois: G Brody, G Hanrahan, M Timmons, D O’Connor, D Strong, R Kehoe, C Begley, B Quigley, J O’Loughlin, N Donoher, C Boyle, E O’Carroll, R Munnelly, D Kingston, P Kingston. Subs: S Attride for Hanrahan (15), T Shiel for P Kingston (21), B Sheehan for Munnelly (52).
Referee: D O’Mahoney (Tipperary).
