Kildare 1-15 Tyrone 2-22: Red Hands see off Lilywhites in style
Saturday 29 June 2019 19:47, UK
Tyrone were forced to dig deep, but eventually clicked into gear to impressively see off Kildare in Newbridge, 2-22 to 1-15.
12 months ago, Kildare knocked the previous year's beaten All-Ireland finalists in St Conleth's Park to send shockwaves across the country. On Saturday evening, they were looking to repeat the trick as Tyrone came to town.
The Red Hands were yet to hit top form this summer, and were looking for both a result and a performance to kick on towards the Super 8s. Ultimately, they found both as they gain momentum in the qualifiers.
In the early stages, it was all Tyrone. Mickey Harte's charges immediately put their hosts on the back foot. Peter Harte knocked over a free to give them a deserved early lead and Kildare found themselves unable to breathe, struggling to maintain possession off their own kick-outs.
In the seventh minute, the Ulster side turned the screw. Mark Donnellan's restart didn't find its desired target, and Tyrone broke forward. Cathal McShane played Niall Sludden in on a marauding run, and he hand-passed it over to Michael Cassidy who smashed it home.
They pushed on, with Darren McCurry and Mattie Donnelly helping them into a 1-6 to 0-3 lead.
Kildare already looked out of ideas, and knew they needed to find a spark before the break if they were going to work their way back into contention.
However, they managed to do just that, and finished the half strongly. In the 31st minute, they finally found space in the Tyrone rearguard. A probing ball in from Fergal Conway led to Keith Cribbin charging in on goal. He selflessly hand-passed it off to Kevin Feely, who blasted it into the net.
After struggling for large periods, Kildare would have been happy to trail by just three points at the break.
Tyrone started the second-half brightly, re-establishing their six-point lead, but it was proving difficult to shake the Kildare challenge. Two inspirational scores from Kevin Feely kept them in touch, and even after Mick O'Grady was shown a red card on 51 minutes, they kept battling.
However, the killer blow came in the 65th minute when Darren McCurry was on hand to palm the ball into the Kildare net, and it broke the home side's challenge.
As the clock ticked on, Tyrone were in cruise control and finished with a flourish, suggesting the Red Hands are right back in the All-Ireland conversation.
The Ulster side were full value for a hard-fought 10-point victory, and they will be full of confidence ahead of Monday's round four qualifier draw.
