Dublin vs Kildare

Dublin begin their Division 2 campaign in the Allianz Football League against last year's other relegated side Kildare.

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Throw-in at Croke Park is 5pm as Dessie Farrell's Dublin begin their Allianz NFL Division 2 campaign against the Lilywhites.

Dublin beat Kildare 1-11 to 0-13 in the opening round of Allianz League Division 2.

A small step towards promotion back to Division 1 and a little piece of revenge in the process. O'Callaghan, locked in a head to head with Kildare corner-back Mick O'Grady, kicked three of those wides for the hosts. That score put Dublin ahead for the first time and they retained the lead throughout though there was never much in it. Kirwan and Hyland are experienced attackers for the Lilies but Robinson was their main threat initially, playing a key role in four of their six first-half points. All told it was a positive start to life in Division 2 of the Allianz League for battling Dublin who made sure there was no repeat of last season's league loss to Kildare. McCaffrey and Mannion are back on the Dublin panel for 2023 but neither were named in the 26.

Early-season rust on show all over the pitch as Dessie Farrell's men make an unconvincing start to life in Division Two.

That was five minutes into the new season and if it was a taste of what Dublin are offering up for 2023, then there’s plenty in the coming year for them. Six times in the 10 minutes after the break, they launched early ball into the full-forward line and mined three points and Costello’s goal chance from the enterprise. In the end, Dublin were able to keep them at arm’s length despite only scoring three points in the closing 25 minutes. It was also the one time that Fenton managed to deceive Kevin O’Callaghan, ping-ponging out of a clinch at the edge of the D and giving McMahon an option dead in front of goal. Dublin led 1-5 to 0-6 at the break, courtesy of three Costello frees and points from play by Niall Scully and John Small. Small’s came on 21 minutes – the first Dublin point from play of the evening. Key to Dublin’s more impressive second half was the shorter leash they were able to put on the young Kildare corner forward. Dublin had a point to spare over Kildare in the end here but it was the sort of display that on another night in another league wouldn’t have cut the mustard. Cormac Costello had a brilliant goal chance saved by Mark Donnellan after another ball played in from distance and the sense that they might be about to double down on last year’s Leinster final rout was suddenly in the air. “But you’d know there was a lot of ring-rustiness and shaking the cobwebs. That was a notably more riotous occasion than this, with a crowd of 17,161 dotted around Croke Park and the shouts of the players echoing around the place. Dublin were able to see it out mostly thanks to a 10-minute spurt early in the second half, during which they stretched their two-point half-time lead out to five.

Seán McMahon and John Small of Dublin challenge Jack Robinson of Kildare during the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Dublin and Kildare at ...

KILDARE: Mark Donnellan; Mick O'Grady cpt., Shea Ryan, Ryan Houlihan; Darragh Malone, Kevin Flynn, Paddy McDermott; Aaron Masterson, Kevin O'Callaghan; David Hyland, Neill Flynn, Paul Cribbin; Jimmy Hyland, Darragh Kirwan, Jack Robinson. DUBLIN: David O'Hanlon; Eoin Murchan, Greg McEneaney, Michael Fitzsimons; Lee Gannon, John Small, Cian Murphy; Brian Fenton, Tom Lahiff; Niall Scully, Ross McGarry, Seán MacMahon; Cormac Costello, Ciarán Kilkenny, Con O'Callaghan. Two frees from Cormac Costell and a point from John Small were responded to with white flags from Darragh Kirawn (two) and another from Jack Robinson but Niall Scully responded to leave the half time score reading Dublin 1-5 Kildare 0-6.

Allianz Football League Division Two Dublin 1-11 Kildare 0-13 By Paul Keane at Croke Park Brian Fenton struck the crucial goal and earned the Man of the ...

Jimmy Hyland sniped one in return for Kildare but Dublin underlined their vast ability with a razor sharp move from the resulting kick-out that ended with Fenton playing in ex-U-20 star McGarry for a point. O'Callaghan, locked in a head to head with Kildare corner-back Mick O'Grady, kicked three of those wides for the hosts. That score put Dublin ahead for the first time and they retained the lead throughout though there was never much in it. Kirwan and Hyland are experienced attackers for the Lilies but Robinson was their main threat initially, playing a key role in four of their six first-half points. There was a four-point haul too from Cormac Costello while the sight of the fit again Con O'Callaghan kicking back to back points at one stage went down well with Dublin fans in the 17,161 crowd. Brian Fenton struck the crucial goal and earned the Man of the Match award as Dublin got their bid for promotion back to Division 1 of the Allianz Football League up and running.

Dessie Farrell's Dublin have beaten the Lilywhites by 1-11 to 0-13 at Croke Park.

January 28 2023 04:00 PM Saturday, 28 January 2023

It was a long way from Dublin at their vintage best but in the race for promotion back to Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, every win counts.

Jimmy Hyland sniped one in return for Kildare but Dublin underlined their vast ability with a razor sharp move from the resulting kick-out that ended with Fenton playing in ex-U-20 star McGarry for a point. O'Callaghan, locked in a head to head with Kildare corner-back Mick O'Grady, kicked three of those wides for the hosts. Kirwan and Hyland are experienced attackers for the Lilies but Robinson was their main threat initially, playing a key role in four of their six first-half points. Dublin did open up a five-point advantage in the third quarter but were holding on in the end with Kildare outscoring them by 0-6 to 0-2 in the closing 20 minutes or so. There was a four-point haul too from Cormac Costello while the sight of the fit again Con O'Callaghan kicking back to back points at one stage in the game went down well with Dublin fans in the 17,161 crowd. It was a long way from Dublin at their vintage best but in the race for promotion back to Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, every win counts.