Kildare minors produce superb comeback to topple Westmeath

Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Football Championship 2024 Round 2

Kildare 1-12

Westmeath 2-6

Kildare minors produced a fantastic comeback to beat Westmeath and make it two wins from two in their Leinster Championship campaign thus far. The Lilies trailed 1-2 to no score after 10 minutes of this game, but battled back to within two of the hosts by half-time.

The winning of this game for Kildare could be credited to a brilliant 1-1 from wing-back Paddy Ryan at a crucial point in the game. Ryan kicked an exceptional point to put Kildare ahead for the first time just eight minutes from the end. Three minutes later the Maynooth man slotted an effort into the bottom corner off the deck to fire Kildare four points clear, a lead they would not relinquish.

Another excellent win for Niall Cronin’s side.

Scorers:Kildare, Harry Donnelly 0-4 (0-3 frees), Paddy Ryan 1-1, Ruaidhrí Lawlor 0-2, Dylan O'Dwyer 0-1 (0-1 frees), Luke Murray 0-1, Cian McKevitt 0-1, Brian Caffrey 0-1, Austin Donegan 0-1.

Westmeath, William Scahill 1-1 (0-1 Mark), Christoir Ormsby 1-0, James McHugh 0-4 (0-4 frees), Daire O'Brien 0-1 (0-1 frees).

KILDARE: Conor McDonnell; Rian Beagan, Liam McDonald, Matthew O'Connor; Paddy Ryan, Finn Dowling, Liam Kenny; Evan Boyle, Ruaidhri Lawlor; Cian McKevitt, Ronan Kelly, Mick O'Toole; Dylan O'Dwyer, Harry Donnelly, Tadhg Donlon. Subs: Luke Murray for Dylan O'Dwyer (Half-time), Austin Donegan for Mick O'Toole (Half-time), Brian Caffrey for Liam McDonald (42 minutes), Adam Poole for Liam Kenny (53 minutes), Peter Fagan for Ronan Kelly (63 minutes).

WESTMEATH: Paul Keating; Daire Burke, Cian Whitney, Ben Sheerin; Ty Masterson, Miker Weir, Jack Carroll; Daire O'Brien, Christoir Ormsby; Cormac Keogh, Michael Maloney, Ryan Flynn; William Scahill, Daragh Lough, James McHugh. Subs: Darragh Madden for Cormac Keogh (35 minutes), Oisin Mulvihill for Daire O'Brien (49 minutes), Peadar Glennon for Christoir Ormsby (53 minutes).

Referee: Fergal Smyth (Offaly)