Wicklow Shocks Kildare In County's First Championship Game At Croker

Leinster SFC
Wicklow 0-13
Kildare 0-9

A run of four points within six minutes of the start of the second half proved the ultimate difference between the sides here as Wicklow pulled off the first shock of the championship season with a deserved victory over Kildare.

This was the county's first ever championship victory at Croke Park. Having seen off one of his former sides, manager Mick O'Dwyer will be hoping to work the oracle once more against another in the quarter-final, where Laois will provide the opposition.

The winners dominated proceedings throughout, with James Stafford and Thomas Walsh holding sway around midfield.

Given that superiority, O'Dwyer would undoubtedly have been disappointed to be going in at the break at 0-5 apiece, despite playing into a strong breeze.

In truth, they should have been much further ahead, having spurned a number of easy opportunities and the Kildare defence never looked comfortable with their opponents' movement.

The game lacked the type of intensity one normally associates with the championship and the 0-2 to 0-1 scoreline in Wicklow's favour after 20 minutes was a reflection of the nature of the proceedings.

Leighton Glynn's 21st minute point after an uncontested run doubled Wicklow's advantage and sparked an increase in the scoring rate with Kildare's best player Alan Smith responding with a fine score on the turn after a strong fetch.

Points from the excellent Seánie Furlong and Tony Hannon pushed Wicklow three clear but Kildare finally began to show some attacking thrust and a razor sharp finish by Keith Cribbin was followed by nice scores from Michael Conway and Ronan Sweeney to send the sides into the dressing rooms at half time on level scores.

It was Wicklow who took the game by the scruff of the neck after the resumption. Hannon was the architect of this winning move, providing three of the four points that separated the sides at the final whistle, with Furlong slotting the fourth from a free.

Dean Odlum also struck the butt of the post in this period as the men in blue threatened to run riot.

Smith stopped the rot in the 47th minute with a point that bounced off the top of the crossbar with Wicklow goalkeeper Mervyn Travers back-peddling furiously.

Travers pulled off a tremendous save at Smith's feet soon afterwards and Furlong lofted over at the other end within seconds to capitalise on the keeper's good work.

Kildare defender Gary White received a straight red card 15 minutes from time for leading with a high arm into the face of a Wicklow player but his side looked well and truly beaten by that juncture.

The Lilies did produce late points from substitute Tadhg Fennin and Smith but they never looked like scoring the goal they needed to rescue themselves from the Qualifiers.