Darragh Kirwan inspires Kildare to Tailteann Cup glory
Brian Flanagan's side have capped a strong season with a rare piece of national silverware having previously gained promotion to Division 2.
But the Lilywhites had to battle all the way for this one and were grateful for the scoring contribution of man-of-the-match Darragh Kirwan who struck 0-08.
Alex Beirne's 1-02 haul was hugely significant too while, just like in the semi-final, Brian McLoughlin had a huge impact when he came on, hitting 0-03.
Trailing by two points after Limerick's second goal in the 48th minute, 1-16 to 2-15, Kildare fans wondered if more Croke Park heartache was coming their way after losing the Division 3 final there in March.
But eight points in the next 15 minutes or so moved them four points clear and gave them a vital cushion at the death.
Limerick, bidding to become the first Division 4 team to win the competition, battled all the way and got the gap down to just three points when the siren sounded.
Kildare win the Tailteann Cup. In a pulsating finale, Limerick almost snatched a dramatic goal to force extra-time but the Lilywhites put their bodies on the line to survive.
📺 https://t.co/sMdAy2CSbE
📻 https://t.co/wkh41D4bF8
💻 https://t.co/0VPvBFWcL1 #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/9rsrOC5RQ6
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 12, 2025
They had possession of the ball at that stage and chased a goal to level the game but when sub Darragh Murray's shot was saved, Rory O'Brien gathered the rebound and was only able to shoot over for a point - ending the game.
Kildare were just about good value overall for the two-point win and can reflect on a solid first season under Flanagan who has guided them to 12 wins from 15 competitive games.
All the talk beforehand was about the impact of the elements and the searing heat but a stiff wind which aided Kildare initially was even more influential.
Kirwan used the wind advantage to drill two two-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and Callum Bolton notched another. Daniel Flynn tried for one too but his effort flew wide.
Kildare were in a healthy position at the 20-minute stage with a 1-10 to 1-03 lead, bouncing back in powerful fashion after falling three points behind early on.
Limerick captain Cillian Fahy scored their first goal in the seventh minute, pouncing on the follow up after Emmet Rigter's initial attempt was blocked.
What a start for the Treaty men!
Cillian Fahy reacts quickest to fire them into the lead in their Tailteann Cup final against Kildare.
📺 https://t.co/588WOUILc1
📻 https://t.co/A8XO1epay3
💻 https://t.co/O1pQE8JY6K pic.twitter.com/L8EDBJZxz2
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 12, 2025
Kildare reeled off 1-07 without response between the 11th and 19th minutes to take firm control of the game.
The scores seemed to come easier for the Leinster semi-finalists who opened up with some terrific football and punished Limerick with a high press on Josh Ryan's kick-outs.
Beirne's 14th minute goal, for example, came after Kildare won a Ryan kick-out and worked the ball back in at pace, Beirne playing a neat one-two before finishing smartly to the bottom corner.
A strong reponse from Kildare - and they get their goal, a beautifully composed effort from Alex Beirne
📺 https://t.co/sMdAy2CSbE
📻 https://t.co/wkh41D4bF8
💻 https://t.co/0VPvBFWcL1 pic.twitter.com/idhaomoxU1
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 12, 2025
But just as soon as Kildare had gained apparent control of the game, Limerick came roaring back into it, cutting the gap to just two points at one stage.
Now it was their time to enjoy a scoring blitz, reeling off five points in a row.
Danny Neville was excellent for them in this period and while Limerick wasted a couple of decent score chances, they still picked off enough scores to haul themselves right back into contention.
Kildare finished the half stronger, opening up a 1-13 to 1-09 lead at the interval, but Limerick remained in a strong position with the wind advantage to come.
And they seized the opportunity with both hands, dominating the third quarter of the game to turn that four-point deficit into a two-point lead with 20 minutes to go, 2-15 to 1-16.
It's a second goal for Limerick who now lead in the Tailteann Cup final
📺 https://t.co/sMdAy2CSbE
📻 https://t.co/wkh41D4bF8
💻 https://t.co/0VPvBFWcL1 #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/UGVX875GgT
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 12, 2025
Wing-back Tony McCarthy pinched back-to-back points for Limerick before goalkeeper Ryan boomed a two-pointer.
Veteran Iain Corbett and Nash added points to narrow the gap and when Killian Ryan netted with a shot that deflected in off Brian Byrne, Limerick supporters were in dreamland with that two-point advantage.
But Kildare hit another purple patch just when it counted down the home stretch, wrestling back control of the game.
A two-pointer for McLoughlin ignited them and there were timely points too from Kirwan, Tommy Gill, Kevin Feely and Colm Dalton before Limerick whipped up that late drama right at the death.
Kildare: Cian Burke; Brian Byrne, Ryan Burke, Harry O'Neill; Tommy Gill (0-1), David Hyland, James McGrath; Kevin Feely (0-02, 0-01f), Brendan Gibbons; Callum Bolton (0-02, tp), Darragh Kirwan (0-08, 2 tp), Colm Dalton (0-02); Ryan Sinkey (0-03), Alex Beirne (1-02), Daniel Flynn (0-01).
Subs: Jack McKevitt for McGrath 43, Brian McLoughlin (0-03, 1 tp) for Gibbons 43, Eoin Cully for Daniel Flynn 47, Mick O'Grady for Burke 66.
Limerick: Josh Ryan (0-03, 1 tpf, 0-01 45); Jason Hassett, Darren O'Doherty, Mark McCarthy; Killian Ryan (1-01), Iain Corbett (0-01), Tony McCarthy (0-03); Tommie Childs (0-01), Darragh O'Hagan; Paul Maher, Cillian Fahy (1-01), Danny Neville (0-01); Emmet Rigter (0-02), James Naughton (0-02, 0-02f), Peter Nash (0-03, 0-01f).
Subs: Barry Coleman for Childs 16-20, blood, Darragh Murray for O'Hagan 43, Coleman for Maher 47, Rob Childs for Rigter 55, Tadgh O Siochru for Corbett 61, Rory O'Brien (0-1) for Tommie Childs 66.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Ellen Walshe and Danielle Hill seal semi-final spots at World Aquatic Championships
and Danielle Hill have booked their places in the semi-finals of the women's 200m butterfly and 50m backstroke respectively at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, while Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen will be in men's 800m freestyle final action this afternoon. Walshe, who was a finalist in the the 200m individual event earlier this week, was taking part in the butterfly heats over the same distance on Wednesday, having brought it back into her repertoire for the first time in five years earlier in 2025. But the Templeogue swimmer showed no rust in the discipline as she finished second in her heat in a time of 2:09.15 behind USA's Regan Smith (2:08.17) and qualified seventh fastest overall for a place in the semi-finals. Walshe's time was the third fastest of her career and was a little way outside of the 2:08.42 national record she holds in the 200m butterfly which she set in March. The 23-year-old will return to the pool at 1.22pm Irish time for the second semi-final heat and was cautiously optimistic that she could contend for a place in the final. "I'm not going to jump straight to that, but I think to go out there tonight and do what I did this morning, like control the first 100 to an extent and then just get after the second 100 as strong as I can and just see where it places me tonight," she said, adding, "It should be a good race, it's quite stacked out there." Fellow Olympian Hill matched her season's best 27.84 on the way to winning her heat in the 50m backstroke, just 0.20 outside of her national record, and qualified 10th overall. "I'm buzzing. I know I might not sound or look it, but I think after Monday (100m backstroke heats) I was a little bit disappointed in myself," she said. "But, I took that swim forward and I looked at it and the shoulder wasn't sore and so all I had to take was confidence from the event, and bring it into this morning, and again, worked with the team throughout the last 24 hours to make sure that I was behind that block again and stood up this time and done the right job." The Larne swimmer will be in semi final action at 12.38pm Irish time, shortly after Paris 2024 gold medalist Wiffen will compete in his 800m freestyle final at 12.02pm. Wiffen, who is recovering from appendicitis, clocked seven minutes 46.36 seconds to finish fifth in his heat on Tuesday, said he was feeling "really weak at the moment". Evan Bailey missed out on a place in the 100m Freestyle semi-finals but came close to his personal best in finishing in a time of 49.52 on the way to a second place finish in his heat. It is the Limerick swimmer's final individual event of the championships. "It was a decent swim, it wasn't anything special, it was 0.4 off my PB, but yeah, just to get in, swim, get that experience here, get it under the belt, so next time I come back, I'll know exactly what to do," he said. "Not the best of my life, but the focus hasn't really been sprint and the 100 free recently. The last few months I've been up at altitude and working more on my endurance and just build my aerobic capacity to build that 200 (freestyle), so I'm not overly disappointed with that time for the 100 as it wasn't really the main focus, but hopefully now I'm going to try building the speed in the next coming months and I'll get that 100 better along with the 200, so I'll have multiple events."
The Irish Sun
7 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Daniel Wiffen makes alarming admission after struggling to qualify for World Aquatics Championships final
DANIEL WIFFEN scraped into the final of the 800m freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore yesterday. The Olympic champion clocked 7:46.36 to finish fifth in his heat. That meant he had a nervous wait to see if he would progress. But with the final heat results confirmed, Wiffen progressed in eighth. And he admitted: 'I feel really weak at the moment. I just need to figure out what it is and change it for the final.' The men's 800m freestyle final will take place at midday Irish time today — exactly one year on from Read More On Irish Sport Elsewhere in the cycling world, Lara Gillespie made history by In the first Tour to have Irish representation, the Wicklow woman came third after a sprint on Stage four behind Dutch duo Lorena Wiebes in first and Marianne Vos — the current Yellow Jersey leader — in second. The result on the largely flat 130.7km stage from Saumur to Poitiers leaves UAE Team ADQ rider Gillespie, 24, 106th in the general classification. Irish national champion and Paris Olympian Mia Griffin is also competing and finished 25th on Tuesday and is 109th overall. Most read in Other Sports Limerick's Fiona Mangan was three places back in 28th and she is 97th in the GC. Wiebes also triumphed in a chaotic sprint on Monday and now sits second overall, trailing Vos. JP McManus and Ruby Walsh pay heartfelt tributes to Edward O'Grady at Galway Races She said: 'I'm happy it worked out again.' 1 Wiffen recently had appendicitis which may explain his struggles
Irish Independent
12 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Dundalk FC boss Ciaran Kilduff making tweaks to deal with troublesome double weekend
Dundalk FC boss Ciarán Kilduff will be hoping it's a case of third time lucky when it comes to his side getting the job done on a double fixture weekend. Having extended their lead at the top of the table to six points last weekend, Lilywhites travel to face UCD at the UCD Bowl on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm) before hosting Longford Town at Oriel Park on bank holiday Monday (5pm).
