Kildare hurlers hit new heights with promotion to Division 1B

Kildare 1-24

Meath 1-14

The Kildare hurlers have been promoted to Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League after a brilliant win over Meath. Sentiment from the veterans of the crowd and squad was that this has been a while coming for The Lilies, but now is the time to revel in that accomplishment and look forward to a coming league final.

It was a brilliant start to this game for the visiting Lilies with two points in as many minutes after throw-in.

The hosts responded well and levelled through two quick-fire points from Jack Regan. Meath’s chief threat proved to be so almost instantly.

David Qualter was the man to match Regan’s double at the other end with one set-piece and another from play.
Jack Regan’s third made this a one-point game at 0-4 to 0-3 after a high octane opening eight minutes.

An excellent point from range from Paul Dolan kicked off Kildare’s best spell of the game to that point with The Lilies in full flow from front to back. The sharp interchange of passing and hard-hitting Kildare play was a joy to watch in the opening exchanges.

A David Qualter 65’ was followed by a superb counter-attacking move that ended off the ash of James Burke. Facilitating that free-flowing attacking play was the exceptional Kildare full-back line with Liam O’Reilly, Simon Leacy, and Rian Boran all mopping things up left and right.

That positive stint in the game was then followed by The Lilies’ worst as they sent five wides past the post and dropped two short in a puzzling spell, while Meath reduced the gap back to two points.

The visiting side’s superior general play did afford them more set-pieces and David Qualter’s steely reliability did plenty to settle the nerves of the travelling fans. Five minutes before the break, Qualter’s seventh of the game made it 0-11 to 0-7.

It was all about the wing-backs as Kildare moved five clear with Daniel O’Meara turning the ball over superbly and Paul Dolan firing over his second.

A further double from Qualter capped an excellent first half for the Maynooth man. A Mikey Cole point for Meath, that was ferociously disputed, fell between Qualter's double as the sides went in at the break at 0-14 to 0-8.

It may not have been done at 100km/h, but Kildare looked set to put this game to bed early in the second half. A cool and professional restart to this game saw The Lilies push nine clear following three more set-pieces being knocked over by David Qualter.

Kildare’s first half wides with the wind at their back were naturally bemoaned, but they weren’t alone in their struggles with Meath struggling after the change of ends. Hardly surprising with the flags at either side of the field in Trim blowing in different directions.

After a free was converted at each end, Meath made what felt like their last stand for promotion with four points without reply.
Jack Regan got his second from play with a fine strike before Nicky Potterton picked up his second of the game to reduce the gap to seven with over 20 minutes to go.

Two minutes later, Regan hit two more to make this a five-point game and create perhaps the biggest feeling of jeopardy to that point for Kildare.

The run of scores was a seed of doubt in the minds of visiting fans while the Meath support began to see the light again.
Kildare, like all good teams do, shut that down in double quick time. While Meath pushed on looking for more, they were hit on the break at great pace. A sharp attacking move finished in the possession of Jack Sheridan who picked up his first score of the game when he found the net. The Naas forward had been unusually quiet in this game, but came up with requisite contribution when his team needed it.

Rian Boran was next on the scoresheet with the corner-back breaking from deep before firing over a score that drew a similar roar to the green flag’s raising moments earlier.

Both Paul Dolan and James Burke picked up their respective third points of the afternoon on the hour mark. When the white flag was raised for Burke’s score from range, Kildare sat 11 clear at 1-21 to 0-13.

The home side's true last stand came when Jack Regan found the net from a free with a powerful effort.

It was certainly a moment of surprise, but not one that created massive drama as Kildare closed out comfortably for a famous victory for the county as they move into Division 1B.

Kildare, David Qualter 0-14 (0-11 frees, 0-1 65'), Jack Sheridan 1-1, Paul Dolan 0-3, James Burke 0-3, Cathal McCabe 0-1, Rian Boran 0-1, Cian Boran 0-1.

Meath, Jack Regan 1-11 (1-9 frees), Nicky Potterton 0-2, Mikey Cole 0-1.

KILDARE: Paddy McKenna; Liam O'Reilly, Simon Leacy, Rian Boran; Daniel O'Meara, Cian Boran, Paul Dolan; Daire Guerin, Cathal McCabe; James Burke, Cathal Burke, Muiris Curtin; Jack Sheridan, Darragh Melville, David Qualter. Subs: Jack Travers for Muiris Curtin (44 minutes), James Dolan for Darragh Melville (48 minutes), Killian Harrington for  Daniel O'Meara (62 minutes), Jack Higgins for Cathal Dowling (69 minutes).

MEATH: Colm O'Riordan; Seán Coloe, Darragh Kelly, Martin Healy; Lorcan Byrne, Simon Ennis, Domhnall Rogers; Kris Gorman, Jarlath Ennis; Mikey Cole, Nicky Potterton, James Toher; Sean Quigley, Damien Healy, Jack Regan. Subs: Kyle Donnelly for Martin Healy (Half-time), Seán Corbett for Seán Quigley (Half-time), Seán Doyle for Mikey Cole (55 minutes), James Kelly for Darragh Kelly (59 minutes), Evan Fitzgerald for Damien Healy (63 minutes).

Referee: Conor Doyle (Tipperary)

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