Kildare 1-17 Sligo 0-12
Kildare boss Brian Flanagan said Saturday’s All-Ireland triumph was the culmination of three years of hard work from some of his players.
The Leinster champions overcame first-time finalists Sligo in Cavan’s Kingspan Breffni Park to atone for last year’s defeat to Tyrone at the same stage.
Though somewhat flattered by the eight-point winning margin, given there was only two points between the teams in the closing stages, there was no doubting Kildare’s superiority, and Flanagan said it was a long road to the promised land.
“A number of years’ work has gone into this, and the players have worked so hard over the last few months to get to this point. Some players have been with this group for three years, some for two, and some joined us since last year.
“They have had to battle back from disappointment and are an incredible bunch. This is a great achievement for them and for everyone involved in Kildare.”
Kildare also beat Sligo on their way to last year’s final, and Yeats County boss Paul Henry saw his side decimated by injuries, with James Donlon, Ross Chambers and Joshua Flynn all forced off in the game, while captain Canice Mulligan and Connacht final hero Dillon Walsh missed out entirely.
Henry said: “I’m bitterly disappointed for the lads. They have put so much work into it this year. I was really hoping they would get over the line, but it just wasn’t meant to be on the day.”
The Leinster champions were ultimately good value for their win – with 12 players registering scores on the day, including five of the six starting forwards and a crucial 1-2 from substitutes Killian Browne and Eoin Cully.
Kildare goalkeeper Cormac Barker opened the scoring before Niall Dolan, Callum Bolton and full forward Seán Hanafin put them four points to the good. The latter three points came from play, and Kildare only kicked two points from frees for the duration of the game, while seven of Sligo’s scores came from the boot of freetaker Luke Marren.
Two of them came in the first half, after centre forward Donlon had kicked Sligo’s first score on 10 minutes.
Oisín O’Sullivan cancelled that out straight away, before Hanafin saw an effort on goal come back off the post and into the grateful arms of goalkeeper Ethan Carden.
Full forward Daire O’Boyle was lively at the other end for Sligo, and fisted their second point, but there was no doubt Kildare were on top, with full back Thomas Von Engelbrechten, Ryan Sinkey and Adam Fanning (two) all pointing as they built up a 0-9 to 0-4 half-time lead.
Sligo captain Brian Byrne came off the bench to inspire a second-half rally, as he kicked two superb points from play, and won one of the five frees that Marren was to land in the second period.
Dylan Walsh was also on the mark, but Browne kicked a point for Kildare on his introduction, and Fanning also helped them maintain their advantage with his third point of the day.
It all went wrong for an energy-sapped Sligo in the dying minutes, as Hanafin firstly intercepted a kick-out to add his second point. And Browne repeated the steal before chipping the ball to the net for the game’s only goal in the 59th minute.
Byrne was black-carded late on as Sligo battled on, but Kildare had the finishing line within their sights, and further scores from Shane Farrell, Bolton and Cully put the icing on the cake, as they claimed their first title since 2018.
KILDARE: C Barker (0-1, free); H O’Neill (0-1), T Von Engelbrechten (0-1), R Burke; J Harris, J McGrath, J McKevitt; N Dolan (0-1), S Farrell (0-1, free); R Sinkey (0-1), C Bolton (0-2), C Dalton; A Fanning (0-3), S Hanafin (0-2), O O’Sullivan (0-2).
Subs: E Cully (0-1) for O’Sullivan (38 mins), E Mountaine for Harris (44), K Browne (1-1) for Sinkey (48), S Savage for Dolan (56), D Guerin for Fanning (60+2).
SLIGO: E Carden; R Chambers, C Johnston, L Casserly; D Walsh (0-1), D McLoughlin, R Sloyan; C Sheridan, R Doherty; M McDaniel, J Donlon (0-1), R Niland; L Marren (0-7, seven frees), D O’Boyle (0-1), M Henry.
Subs: J Flynn for Henry (23 mins), R O’Kelly-Lynch for McDaniel, Z Mahon for Chambers (both h-t), B Byrne (0-2) for Flynn (34), C McMorrow for Donlon (39).
Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).
