| Kildare late show drops Exiles into
danger zone  By
Brendan Coffey
Kildare 2-13
London 1-7
NHL Division 2B
London suffered their second defeat of the league when Kildare came from
behind to take the points in a wet and windy Celbridge on Sunday afternoon
— dashing hopes of promotion for the Exiles.
The visitors played the more clinical hurling in the first-half and fared
better in the heavy conditions with their superior physical strength helping
them to a 1-5 to 0-3 lead at the break. But Kildare hit them for two goals
in two minutes late in the second-half that secured victory for the Lilies.
In the end a nine-point difference was a poor reflection of how little
there was to separate the teams although Kildare’s superior fitness
levels showed in the end as they reeled off 2-4 without reply in the last
10 minutes.
Conditions were bad at the start with the rain pouring down and they only
got worse as the half wore on and the wind and rain picked up. The hurling
and the spectators suffered in the interim.
Kildare scored first with Mattie Dowd taking less than a minute to find
the target but it remained the home side’s sole score for 20 minutes
as London hit four points on the trot to move in front. Daragh Smith and
Jim Ryan had a point apiece while Michael O’Meara notched a brace
to open up a three-point gap.
Kildare brought the margin back to a point when Dowd scored his second
point from a free in the 29th minute but London were boosted further ahead
of the half-time break when Jim Ryan netted their goal three minutes before
the end of the half.
A poor half of hurling wasn’t helped by some questionable refereeing
but London were happy to be 1-5 to 0-3 ahead at half-time.
They managed to keep their noses in front midway through the second period
though Kildare were beginning to find their rhythm and another Dowd point
brought them within a score of their opponents with 12 minutes to go.
The game was soon to turn on events around the 61st minute. First Oisin
Lynch whipped a loose sliotar into the net and then Adrian McAndrew pulled
on a high delivery to the London square and connected sweetly to send
the ball crashing into the net. Kildare were ahead by 2-9 to 1-7.
London remained scoreless from there to the finish as Kildare picked
off four more points to run out convincing winners thus gaining their
first win in three attempts.
The result means London now must defeat Westmeath to have any hope of
making the divisional play-offs.
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