Kildare ladies come up short in Leinster opener against Dublin

Dublin 4-12

Kildare 1-5

Kildare got their Leinster Senior Championship underway in Cedral St Conleth's Park with a defeat to Dublin after a dominant showing from the visitors. 

The Dubs grabbed the first two points of the game with a fast start, but The Lilies shot in front when Aoife Rattigan saw her effort at the posts drop underneath the crossbar and into the net.

The visitors responded with a goal from Niamh Hetherton and a point from Sophie McIntyre to restore their advantage, with an Alannah Prizeman free going the other way in that time.

The Lilies levelled during undoubtedly their best spell to that point with two points from Alannah Prizeman and one from Róisín Byrne.

Kildare showed that they were right in this fixture in the opening half, but they would ultimately go in trailing with a late burst from the girls in blue.

Dublin got their second goal of the game when Hannah Tyrell put Caoimhe O’Connor through on goal and the Clontarf forward made no mistake.

A Niamh Hetherton point late in the half sent The Dubs in with a 2-5 to 1-4 lead.

After a back and forth opening half, Dublin came flying out of the blocks and hit four points without reply in the five minutes after the restart. 

The blue blitz put a dampener on any potential Kildare momentum.

Chloe Darby hit 1-3 in the 10 minutes after the break in blistering fashion to put Dublin out of sight.

The girls in blue completed a professional performance and made it two wins in the Leinster Senior Championship.

Meanwhile, there were signs of improvement for Kildare, especially compared to 12 months ago. They now look ahead to their clash with Meath.

Dublin, Niamh Hetherton 1-5, Chloe Darby 1-3 (0-1 frees), Niamh Crowley 1-1, Caoimhe O'Connor 1-0, Hannah Tyrell 0-2 (0-1 frees), Sophie McInyre 0-1.

Kildare, Alannah Prizeman 0-4 (0-4 frees), Aoife Rattigan 1-0, Róisín Byrne 0-1.

DUBLIN: Abby Shiels; Jess Tobin, Leah Caffrey, Niamh Donlon; Aoife Curran, Lauren Magee, Aoife Kane; Éilish O'Dowd, Grace Kós; Caoimhe O'Connor, Chloe Darby, Annabelle Timothy; Hannah Tyrell, Niamh Hetherton, Sophie McIntyre. Subs: Niamh Crowley for Sophie McIntyre (47 minutes), Hannah Leahy for Aoife Kane (51 minutes), Jodi Egan for Hannah Tyrell (52 minutes), Ashling Nyan for Grace Kós (56 minutes), Siobhán Birnie for Niamh Hetherton (58 minutes).

KILDARE: Mary Hulgraine; Ruth Sargent, Laoise Lenehan, Emma Wheeler; Mia Doherty, Laura Dunlea, Molly Aspell; Claire Sullivan, Gillian Wheeler; Ciara Wheeler, Lisa Shaw, Neasa Dooley; Aoife Rattigan, Alannah Prizeman, Róisín Byrne. Subs: Síofra Galvin for Gillian Wheeler (Half-time), Ciara Moran for Claire Sullivan (33 minutes), Aoife Murnane for Neasa Dooley (39 minutes), Ellen Dowling for Aoife Rattigan (44 minutes), Lara Gilbert for Emma Wheeler (48 minutes).

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow)

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