Kildare said goodbye to St. Conleth's Park as we know it with a deserved 0-13 to 0-8 defeat of Meath in Division 2.
Much needed redevelopment work on the Newbridge ground begins first thing tomorrow morning and is expected to be closed for approximately eighteen months.
Both sides came in to the game this afternoon chasing much needed points in a bid to strengthen their ambitions to play in the Sam Maguire competition as the summer progresses.
The first few minutes were cagey with spectators all too aware of the importance of a positive result this afternoon.
With chances few and far in the first few minutes, Matthew Costello had the chance to settle the Meath nerves with a kickable free but didn’t get near the power he needed with the ball dropping into the hands of Donnellan in the Kildare goal.
Paddy Woodgate got the scoreboard up and running for Kildare just moments later with a free in front of the posts and had a second chance from the exact same spot within seconds but on this occasion kicked wide.
Kildare were winning the early physical battle in midfield and capitalized on that dominance with two further scores from David Hyland and Darragh Kirwan giving the hosts a three point lead on 10 minutes.
It was all too easy for Kildare with Kirwan easing past Flood and Harnan on the edge of the box before fisting over the bar with all the time in the world.
With twenty minutes played Meath were still scoreless and even getting out of their own half with the ball was proving difficult with O’Grady and David Hyland mopping up everything that the Meath midfield threw at them from a height.
A Jack Robinson free and a sublime score from distance by Darragh Kirwan extended Kildare’s lead further as they led 0-6 to 0-1 with seven minutes of the first half remaining.
With O’Rourke’s side under the cosh and in the absence of Donal Keoghan, they needed leaders and fast. Two fantastic long range scores from Cillian O’Sullivan and Ronan Jones went some way to answering that call as the half drew to a close.
That was as good as it got for Meath up to half time. The Royals for much of the half playing as a group of individuals rather than as a collective.
Further points from Kirwan and Robinson brought the first half to a close and not for the first time it was all too easy for Kildare. Meath were struggling to contain the direct running of Kildare with the Lilywhites happy to draw frees with the accuracy of Woodgate and Robinson on either side.
A fresh half of football but the same painful story for Meath. Second best in every area of the pitch and most importantly on the scoreboard with Kildare bringing on the cavalry in the second half as they looked to push on and seal the victory.
Glenn Ryan introduced Daniel Flynn, Jimmy Hyland, Kevin Feely and Paul Cribbin to the Kildare side early in the second half as Kildare stretched their lead to seven points mid way through the second half on a scoreline of 0-12 to 0-05.
Kildare will wonder how they weren’t further ahead as the game entered the closing stages, a number of frees from Donal Lenihan left Meath just four adrift as the game entered injury time. From a glance the score line would tell you that there was a closeness between the sides on the day but it was quite the opposite with Kildare fully deserving of their win.
The final game in St. Conleth’s Park before the bulldozers begin the redevelopment work tomorrow morning sees Kildare sign off with a win and leapfrog their Leinster rivals to finish fifth.
A jump in final positions that could be crucial in the fight for Sam Maguire football later in the year.
Kildare: Mark Donnellan; Mick O’Grady, Shea Ryan, Ryan Houlihan; David Hyland (0-1), Kevin Flynn, Jack Sargent; Aaron Masterson, Kevin O’Callaghan; Barry Coffey, Ben McCormack, Alex Beirne; Jack Robinson (0-3, 3f), Darragh Kirwan (0-5, 1f), Paddy Woodgate (0-3, 2f)
Subs: Paul Cribbin for Alex Beirne 36, Jimmy Hyland (0-1, 1f) for Paddy Woodgate 49, Daniel Flynn for Jack Robinson 49, Kevin Feely for Aaron Masterson 53, Paddy McDermott for Barry Coffey 65
Meath: Harry Hogan; Adan O’Neill, Michael Flood, Harry O’Higgins; Ross Ryan, Padraic Harnan, Eoin Harkin; Ronan Jones (0-1), Jack Flynn (0-1, 1f); Daithi McGowan, Matthew Costello (0-1, 1f), Jason Scully; Aaron Lynch, Diarmuid Moriarty, Cillian O’Sullivan (0-1)
Subs: Donal Lenihan (0-4, 4f) for Aaron Lynch 29, Cathal Hickey for Eoin Harkin 32, Jack O’Connor for Michael Flood 36, Thomas O’Reilly for Cillian O’Sullivan 45, Keith Curtis for Diarmuid Moriarty
Referee: John Gilmartin (Sligo)
