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June 13 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Cedral St. Conleth’s Park, Newbridge Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)

Competition:

GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship

Description:

Kerry defeated Kildare by 3-22 to 0-17 in Round 2B of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship on Saturday June 13th at Cedral St Conleth’s, Newbridge.

Match Highlights

All-Ireland SFC: Kerry ease to victory over Kildare

KERRY 3-22 KILDARE 0-17

Report By Ger McNally at Cedral St. Conleth’s Park for GAA.ie

Kerry reignited their All-Ireland title defence with a commanding victory over Kildare, finishing strongly with three goals in the closing quarter in front of almost 10,000 spectators at Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

Goals from David Clifford, Diarmuid O’Connor and substitute Gavin White ultimately put an emphatic gloss on the scoreline, although the outcome had long appeared inevitable.

Playing with the aid of a strong wind, Kerry made their intent clear from the outset, racing into a six-point lead with a string of early scores, including two two-point efforts from Joe O’Connor and Dylan Geaney.

Kildare’s resistance during the opening half was largely driven by Jack Robinson, who, despite carrying a heavily strapped hamstring after an injury-hit campaign, impressed with five points. His fifth score, midway through the half, cut the deficit to four (0-11 to 0-7), but Kerry soon reasserted control.

The visitors finished the half with a flourish to lead 0-16 to 0-8 at the interval, with scores shared throughout the team. While Mark Dempsey did a solid job in limiting David Clifford’s influence to two first-half points, Kerry’s depth ensured they remained comfortably in front.

Brian Ó Beaglaoich was particularly prominent in the early stages of the second half before becoming the first of three players withdrawn as a temporary change as Kerry used eight replacements in total.

Kildare briefly threatened a revival when Darragh Kirwan landed a superb two-pointer in the 51st minute to reduce the gap to eight. However, that proved as close as they would get.

Within four minutes, Kerry struck decisively. Clifford intercepted a short kickout by Eoin Sheehan and surged through to finish clinically to the net. Almost immediately from the restart, Diarmuid O’Connor added a second goal after a sweeping move, effectively ending the contest.

Kildare continued to battle, with Kirwan and substitute Brian McLoughlin both adding two-point scores, but Kerry had the final say. Deep in stoppage time, Clifford turned provider, squaring for Gavin White to tap in a third goal and complete a dominant performance.

The result represents a timely boost for Kerry, with several returning players gaining valuable minutes as they build towards the latter stages of the championship.

Scorers for Kerry: D Clifford 1-4, D Geaney 0-4 (1 tp), D O’Connor 1-0, G White 1-0, P Clifford 0-3 (1 tp, 1’45), B Ó Beaglaoich 0-3, J O’Connor 0-2 (1 tp), G O’Sullivan 0-2 (1f), (1 tp), P Geaney 0-2, S O’Brien 0-2.

Scorers for Kildare: D Kirwan 0-6 (2 tp), J Robinson 0-5, A Beirne 0-2 (1f), B McLoughlin 0-2 (1 tp), B Loakman 0-1, B Byrne 0-1.

Kerry: Shane Murphy; Evan Looney, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Graham O’Sullivan; Mark O’Shea, Seán O’Brien; Joe O’Connor, Paudie Clifford, Diarmuid O’Connor; Paul Geaney (capt), David Clifford, Dylan Geaney.
Subs: Gavin White for Ó Beaglaoich (50, t/s); Keith Evans for Geaney (53); Tony Brosnan for O’Connor (53); Armin Heinrich for Breen (57); Paul Murphy for Looney (57); Killian Spillane for D. O’Connor (62); Tadhg Morley for Foley (64, t/s); Tomás Kennedy for Clifford (66, t/s).

Kildare: Eoin Sheehan; Ryan Burke, Mark Dempsey, Harry O’Neill; James McGrath, Padraic Spillane, Brian Byrne; Kevin Feely, Brendan Gibbons; Shane Farrell, Darragh Kirwan, Colm Dalton; Ben Loakman, Alex Beirne, Jack Robinson.
Subs: Brian McLoughlin for Farrell (44); Ryan Sinkey for Dalton (49); Eoin Cully for Robinson (53); Tommy Gill for O’Neill (62); Darragh Swords for McGrath (64).

Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)

Team News

KERRY (v Kildare): S Murphy; E Looney, J Foley, D Casey; B Ó Beaglaíoch, M Breen, G O’Sullivan; M Ó Sé, S O’Brien; J O’Connor, P Clifford, D O’Connor; T Brosnan, D Clifford, D Geaney.
Subs: S Broderick, E Healy, K Evans, K Spillane, C Trant, P Geaney, G White, A Heinrich, T Kennedy, P Murphy, T Morley.

Kildare v Kerry

A big occasion for Newbridge as the Munster champions come to town to take on the Lilywhites, who are hoping to lift what has been a disappointing season thus far.

Championship So Far

Kildare

  • Kildare 2-20 Laois 2-15 (Leinster quarter-final)
  • Westmeath 2-21 Kildare 0-23 AET (Leinster semi-final)
  • Galway 3-21 Kildare 0-17 (All-Ireland Championship – Round 1)

Played: 3 | Won: 1 | Lost: 2

Kerry

  • Kerry 2-19 Clare 1-14 (Munster semi-final)
  • Kerry 1-23 Cork 1-15 (Munster final)
  • Donegal 2-20 Kerry 0-16 (All-Ireland Championship – Round 1)

Played: 3 | Won: 2 | Lost: 1

Last Five Championship Meetings

  • 2018: Kerry 3-25 Kildare 2-16 (All-Ireland ‘Super 8s’)
  • 2015: Kerry 7-16 Kildare 0-10 (All-Ireland quarter-final)
  • 2002: Kerry 2-10 Kildare 1-5 (Round 4 Qualifiers)
  • 1998: Kildare 0-13 Kerry 1-9 (All-Ireland semi-final)
  • 1931: Kerry 1-11 Kildare 0-8 (All-Ireland final)

Key Stats & Facts

  • Kildare’s only wins this year came against Offaly (Division 2) and Laois in the Leinster quarter-final. Both Kildare and Offaly were relegated to Division 3.
  • Kerry scored a combined 10-41 in their last two championship meetings with Kildare (2018 and 2015).
  • Jack O’Connor managed Kildare in 2020 and 2021, both seasons played as straight knock-out championships due to Covid-19.
  • In 2020, Kildare beat Offaly before losing to Meath in Leinster.
  • In 2021, Kildare beat Offaly and Westmeath before losing the Leinster final to Dublin (0-20 to 1-9).

2026 League & Championship Record

Kildare: Played 10, Won 2, Drew 1, Lost 7

Kerry: Played 11, Won 6, Drew 2, Lost 3

Kerry competed in Division 1, while Kildare were in Division 2.

Venue:

  • Cedral St. Conleth’s Park, Newbridge
  • Ireland + Google Map