National Football League Division Two: Clare 0-15 – Kildare 0-16
A 27 minute barren spell in the second half would ultimately come back to bite for Clare as the Banner lost out to Kildare at the death in the National Football League.
Captain Eoin Cleary led the Clare charge, registering six points to his name inside the first half, while Ronan Lanigan, Cian O’Dea & Manus Doherty anchored the defence.
The Banner led by double scores at 0-04 to 0-02 inside the opening quarter with Emmet McMahon, Eoin Cleary and Ronan Lanigan all finding their range.
Eire Óg’s Lanigan scored his first point in a Banner jersey on fourteen minutes, before making the block that would act as the catalyst for a superb team score , finishing at the boot of Podge Collins.
Jimmy Hyland kept the Lilywhites in touch with four first half points, however a late surge from Gavin Cooney and Dermot Coughlan in the closing stages of the half, saw Clare in the ascendancy at 0-11 to 0-07.
The restart began with the same frantic finish as its predecessor with Emmet McMahon, Eoin Cleary and Gavin Cooney all firing over once again in perfect sequence to stretch the Banner advantage out to six.
However a second bookable offence resulting in the dismissal of Kildare’s Ben McCormack had the reversal of the desired effect.
Despite Clare’s numerical advantage, it was Kildare who hit a purple pitch with Darragh Kirwan, Neill and Daniel Flynn cutting the deficit back to two, with only the out-stretched leg of Stephen Ryan in the Clare goalmouth preserving the lead.
Captain Cleary broke Clare’s 27 minute barren spell in the second period to restore a three point advantage with only additional time remaining at 0-15 to 0-12.
However in stark contrast to Clare’s victory over Louth in the previous round, it was Kildare who would seize the initiative at the death with David Hyland, Neill Flynn and a Daniel Flynn brace securing victory by the minimum.
As It finished in Kildare’s favour in Cusack Park on a full time score of 0-16 to 0-15.
Colm Collin’s side will be hoping to get their league campaign back on track when they travel to Croke Park to face Dublin on Saturday, February 25th.
