Allianz NFL Division 2 – Kildare 1-17 Tipperary 0-8

Kildare defeated Tipperary by 1-17 to 0-8 in Round 2 of the Allianz National Football League Division 2 on Saturday at Semple Stadium Thurles.

Kildare put Down defeat behind them

From the Irish Examiner web site

Saturday, February 13, 2010 – 09:29 PM

Kildare 1-16 Tipperary 0-8

NFL DIVISION 2

A depleted Kildare put last weekend’s chastening defeat to Down behind them with a comfortable victory over 14-man Tipperary at a sparsely attended Semple Stadium tonight. Kieran McGeeney was without seven front line players through suspension and injury, and will be worried about further knocks picked up by Hugh McGrillen and Anthony Rainbow that necessitated their substitutions during the game. The evergreen Rainbow impressed in an unusual role at centre-forward, while Ken Donnelly did his cause no harm for a more regular starting role and James Kavanagh finished with an eight-point haul. Midfielder Daryl Flynn was the most influential figure on the field however, displaying tremendous fielding skills to go with a keen work ethic. Donnelly struck the net in the sixth minute, having been placed expertly by Mark Scanlon, to give Kildare an early four-point lead and it was an advantage they held until half time. Conor Sweeney and Barry Grogan did get on the score sheet for the home side but Kavanagh tagged on three points of his own to give Kildare a 1-5 to 0-4 interval lead.

Kavanagh, Karl Ennis and Padraig O’Neill kept the scoreboard ticking over after the resumption and when Tipp midfielder Hugh Coghlan was sent off in the 50th minute after an off-the-ball incident involving Flynn, it was curtains for the home side. Both sides emptied their benches as the result became inevitable. Tipp replacement, Stephen Hahessy did kick two fine points from play but it was all Kildare, with Flynn covering every blade of grass on the field. O’Neill brought his tally to three with a beauty with the outside of his right boot and Dermot Earley produced the loudest cheer of the night courtesy of a wonderful point on the run from 40m. The defeat leaves Tipperary facing a tough battle to retain their newfound Division 2 status already, while Kildare will hope to build on this morale-boosting win to make a stab at promotion to the top tier.

Kildare: S McCormack; A Mac Lochlainn, H McGrillen, E Bolton; M Foley, B Flanagan, M Scanlon; D Flynn, D Earley 0-1; D Whyte, A Rainbow, P O’Neill 0-3; K Ennis 0-4(3fs), J Kavanagh 0-8(5fs), K Donnelly 1-0. Subs: D Hendy for McGrillen inj (32); R Sweeney for Rainbow inj (46); H Lynch for White (60); D Lyons for Bolton (65)

Tipperary: M O’Donnell; C Morrissey, P Codd, C McDonald; R Costigan, N Curran, C Aylward; G Hannigan, H Coghlan; J Cagney 0-1, S Grogan P Acheson; C Sweeney 0-3(2fs), P Austin, B Grogan 0-2(1f). Subs: B Mulvhill for Cagney (40); B Coen for S Grogan (47); A Rockett for Austin (53); S Hahessy 0-2 for B Grogan (61); C McGrath for Codd (66)

Referee: A Mangan (Kerry)
Improved Kildare prove too strong

From the Irish Times newspaper

Kildare 1-17 Tipperary 0-8

KILDARE MANAGER Kieran McGeeney was not getting carried away by his side’s 12-point win at Semple Stadium on Saturday night. “We have a long way to go”, the former Armagh star said, but added, “any win is a good win after last week”. McGeeney said that Kildare were much improved on last week when they lost to Down. “We are not as good as some might think, but we are not as bad as last week. We have Donegal next and they will be tough. The big pitch suited us . We played Tipperary twice last year and we got our fill with them. We came here with a point to prove and we did just that.” A Ken Donnelly goal for Kildare after five minutes put them in the driving seat and they never looked back. Dermot Earley might have had a second for them nearing half-time, but Ciarán McDonald took the ball off the Tipperary line. Kildare led 1-5 to 0-4 at the interval. Tipperary then had midfielder Hugh Coghlan red-carded for a rash tackle on Darryl Flynn in the 50th minute. It was an impressive showing by Kildare with key performances from Darryl Flynn, Dermot Earley, Hugh McGrillen, James Kavanagh and Karl Ennis.

KILDARE: S McCormack; A MacLochlainn, J McGrillen, E Bolton; M Foley, B Flanagan, M Scanlon; D Flynn, D Earley(0-1); D Whyte(0-1), A Rainbow, P O Neill (0-3); K Donnelly (1-0), K Ennis (0-4,2f), J Kavanagh (0-7, 4fs). Subs: D Hendy for McGrillen; R Sweeney for Rainbow; H Lynch for Whyte; K Cribbin (0-1) for Foley; D Lyons for Bolton.

TIPPERARY: M O’Donnell; C Morrissey, P Codd, C McDonald; R Costigan, N Curran, C Aylward; G Hannigan, H Coghlan; J Cagney(0-1), P Austin, P Acheson; C Sweeney (0-3,1f), S Grogan, B Grogan (0-2, 1f); Subs: B Mulvihill for Cagney; B Coen for S Grogan; A Rockett for Austin; S Hahessy (0-2) for B Grogan; C McGrath for Codd.

Referee: A Mangan (Kerry).

Match Preview

Tipperary v Kildare

From the RTE.ie web site

Friday, 12 February 2010 08:44

There will be two particularly precious league points on offer at Semple Stadium on Saturday night. Both Tipperary and Kildare slipped up last weekend and another defeat for either side will leave them staring at a relegation dogfight. Tipp would have expected to find life in Division 2 tough, as their two successive promotions has brought them to a level not many of their Premier predecessors have experienced. They certainly must have felt like ducks out of water when found themselves ten points down at the break in Portlaoise last weekend.

Most neutral observers would find merit in the fact that Tipp regrouped in the second half and were eventually only beaten by two points. Moral victories do not sit well with Tipp supremo John Evans, however, and he said – somewhat ominously – afterwards that he believed his troops were out of their depth. Kildare will hardly be in much better humour when they arrive in Thurles. The Lilywhites were well beaten by Down last week, though admittedly they were without talisman John Doyle as he sat the game out through suspension. Manager Kieran McGeeney mood had already been soured by the news that Morgan O’Flaherty had his appeal against an eight-week ban thrown out.

Kildare were confident that they had proof that O’Flaherty was the victim of mistaken identity in their O’Byrne Cup melee with Laois, but the Leinster Council’s Central Hearing Committee thought otherwise, leaving McGeeney to label the disciplinary system a ‘joke’. Kildare have improved considerably since ‘Geezer’ took over, and will be a force to be reckoned with in Leinster, and perhaps beyond, come the Championship. However, it is a case of now or never for Tipp, and their absolute need to get off the mark could be the deciding factor.

Verdict: Tipperary