Kildare were far from their best at the Centre of Excellence at Hawkfield but they were still able to grind out a 1-17 to 0-19 victory over Down in Division 2A of the Allianz Hurling League.
A 37th-minute missed penalty by James Burke was one of 16 wides on the day for Kildare and the game looked to be slipping away from them when Paul Sheehan scored two points to push Down two clear with six minutes of normal time to play.
Kildare responded by finally adding some quality to their shooting to score the next four points of the game, the decisive period of the game.
Goalkeeper Paddy McKenna scored one of those points from a monstrous free and he also made three excellent saves in the second half, including one exceptional effort to keep out an Oisin MacManus shot in the 45th minute.
The home side started well and were 0-04 to 0-01 ahead after seven minutes but gradually errors began to creep into their play and three of Down's points came as a result of poor passing from Kildare as they moved into an 0-11 to 0-06 lead by the half hour mark.
Crucially Kildare were able to get a goal against the run of play. Cathal Dowling was dispossessed as he headed for goal in the 32nd minute and with the ball on ground Cathal McCabe arrived with perfect timing and smashed the ball past Stephen Keith.
Down led 0-14 to 1-09 at the break but it was the home side who started better once again once the ball was thrown in. Burke won a penalty himself two minutes after the restart but he drilled his effort wide, one of 11 for Kildare in the second period.
Paul Dolan and Rian Boran scored the first two points of the second half before Down took the lead again when Sheehan landed their first point of the second half in the 52nd minute.
Brian Byrne tied the game again for Kildare but when Sheehan pushed the Ulster side two clear again it looked like Ronan Sheehan’s team would leave with the win.
But a brilliant effort from the left wing by Burke gave Kildare belief again and points from Byrne, McKenna and Declan Flaherty followed.
Eighteen-year-old Finn Turpin kept Down in the game with a point in the first minute of injury time but Kildare replied instantly with what proved to be the decisive score of the game from the tireless McCabe.
Pearse Óg McCrickard scored to again leave the minimum between the sides. Down then had a chance to snatch a draw in time added on to the four minutes of injury time that were shown when Aytron Gleeson had the ball inside the Kildare 45 but experienced corner back Niall O’Muinacháin defended the situation brilliantly and David Herity’s team held on for the win.
Scorers - Kildare: J Burke 0-7 (5fs), C McCabe 1-2, B Byrne 0-2, P Dolan 0-2, C Dowling 0-1, P McKenna 0-1f, D Flaherty 0-1, R Boran 0-1.
Down: P Sheehan 0-8 (4fs, 1’65), F Turpin 0-3, S Martin 0-2, P Óg McCrickard 0-2, B Trainer 0-1, T McGrattan 0-1, C Taggart 0-1, M Conlon 0-1.
Kildare: Paddy McKenna; Niall Ó Muineacháin, Simon Leacy, Cian Shanahan; Jack Travers; Conan Boran, Rian Boran; Paul Dolan, Cathal McCabe; Johnny Byrne, Gerry Keegan, James Burke; Brian Byrne, David Qualter, Cathal Dowling.
Subs: Cian Boran for Qualter (44), Cormac Byrne for J Travers (47), Declan Flaherty for Dolan (56), Mark Delaney for J Byrne (65).
Down: Stephen Keith; Tom Murray, Barry Trainer, John McManus; Caolan Taggart, Matt Conlon, Niall McFarland; Liam Savage, Stuart Martin; Finn Turpin, Paul Sheehan, Pearse Óg McCrickard; Oisin MacManus, Chris Egan, Tom McGrattan.
Subs: Tim Prenter for Trainor (51), Ayrton Gleeson for McCrickard (62), Jason Croskery for Taggart (63).
Referee: Shane Hynes (Galway).
