By Dan Kearney
Kerry secured a home quarter-final in the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship with a convincing victory over Kildare at Cedral St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge.
Emma Costello was magnificent in a superb Kerry performance where Danielle O’Leary finished with 1-3.
The Kingdom were in control for long periods and produced an efficient display that saw them build a commanding lead before comfortably seeing out the contest. Defeat means Kildare must now face Tipperary next weekend in a bid to reach the last eight and avoid a relegation play-off.
Emma Costello opened the scoring for Kerry with a chance that might have been a goal, before Aoife Rattigan quickly levelled for the hosts. Kerry then began to take control through scores from Jaydn Lucey, Danielle O’Leary and Niamh Ní Chonchúir.
The game’s decisive moment arrived midway through the first half when Kerry struck for a goal. Caoimhe Evans surged forward on a powerful run before finding O’Leary, who used a clever dummy hop to create space to finish confidently to the net.
That score helped Kerry seize the initiative and they continued to build momentum through points from Síofra O’Shea and Mary O’Connell. Kildare responded with scores from Molly Aspell and Alannah Prizeman, but Kerry finished the half strongly.
Lucey added another point before O’Shea converted two frees to leave the visitors with a commanding 1-9 to 0-3 lead at the interval.
Kildare had battled hard but were left to rue a number of missed opportunities in the opening period, while Kerry could also have added further goals.
Any hopes of a Kildare comeback were quickly extinguished after the restart. Aishling O’Connell and O’Shea extended the lead before Rattigan briefly interrupted Kerry’s run of scores.
Kerry continued to dominate possession and territory, with O’Shea, O’Leary, Niamh Carmody and Róisín Rahilly all finding the target as the gap continued to widen. Rattigan and Aspell worked tirelessly for Kildare and accounted for most of their scoring, but Kerry always looked in control.
Further points from O’Shea, Carmody, O’Leary and Kiera Furey completed an impressive afternoon for the visitors, who finished with ten different scorers.
The final whistle confirmed a comprehensive Kerry victory and a place in the home quarter-finals, while Kildare’s championship hopes now hinge on next week’s clash with Tipperary.
Scorers for Kerry: D O’Leary 1-3; S O’Shea 0-6 (4f); J Lucey 0-2; N Carmody 0-2; N Ní Chonchúir, M O’Connell, E Costello, A O’Connell, R Rahilly and K Furey 0-1 each.
Kildare: A Rattigan 0-4 (2f), M Aspell 0-3, A Prizeman 0-1.
KERRY: ME Bolger; R Rahilly, D Kearney, E Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello, A Dillane; A Galvin, M O’Connell; N Carmody, N Ni Chonchúir, C Evans; J Lucey, D O’Leary, S O’Shea. Subs: L McMahon for J Lucey (50), É Ní Laighinn for A O’Connell (50), N Quinn for C Evans (50), M Mulvihill for N Ní Chonchúir (53), K Furey for D Kearney (54).
KILDARE: C Nallen; M McDonagh, E Wheeler, L Shaw; H McLoughlin, R Sargent, L Lenihan; N Murphy, G Wheeler; L Curran, J Harney, M Aspell; A Rattigan, A Murnane, A Prizeman. Subs: M Doyle for M McDonagh (39), A Cahill for N Murphy (48), A Mahon for LShaw (48), L Reilly for J Harney (50), S Galvin for L Curran (50).
Referee: C McCarthy (Cork).