Killian Browne nets crucial goal as Kildare break Sligo hearts to lift U-20 All-Ireland title

Sligo, playing in their first All-Ireland final at this grade, had worked hard to pull themselves back to within two points when the critical minute of the game arrived.

First, the excellent Sean Hanafin pulled down a Sligo kick out. When space opened up, he kept his cool to put three between the sides once more. From the next kick out, Kildare turned the ball over again and Browne lofted his effort over Ethan Cadden to put Kildare six clear with two minutes of normal time to play. It was window dressing from there as Kildare atoned for last year’s final defeat to Tyrone.

The Leinster side had the edge all afternoon and were the better side in the first half, playing with the aid of the breeze. They landed nine points in the first half, eight of which came from play. The scoring responsibility was well spread out too. By the break, eight separate Kildare players had scored. Sean Hanafin was one of those scorers and offered a useful target on the edge of the square. Kildare looked to have all the answers in the first but, on the downside, they also kicked eight wides.

Sligo’s resistance was patchy. They conceded four points before getting off the mark and when they did break through, they met stiff resistance. Conor Sheridan got a sniff of goal only to be denied by a brilliant Jack McKevitt block. At the interval, they were just about in touch, trailing 0-9 to 0-4.

Sligo had beaten Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Kerry to reach this stage and rallied in the second half. Twice they pulled the gap back to two points with sub Brian Byrne a threat. And for the briefest of periods around when Shane Farrell scuffed a long range free, it looked like Kildare could be rattled.

However, on both occasions they steadied the ship with Browne clipping over a nice point with his first touch. The Celbridge man would grab his goal and effectively seal the title.

On this evidence, Kildare football is gathering momentum.

SCORERS

Kildare:K Browne 1-1, A Fanning 0-3, O O’Sullivan, S Hanafin, C Bolton 0-2 each, C Barker (1f), H O’Neill, T Von Engelbrechten, S Farrell (1f), R Sinkey, N Dolan, E Cully 0-1 each.

Sligo: L Marren 0-7 (7f), B Byrne 0-2, D Walsh, D O’Boyle, J Donlon 0-1 each.

TEAMS

Kildare:C Barker; H O’Neill, T von Engelbrechten, R Burke; J Harris, J McGrath, J McKevitt; N Dolan, S Farrell; R Sinkey, C Bolton, C Dalton; A Fanning, S Hanafin, O O’Sullivan SUBS: E Cully for O’Sullivan (39), E Mountaine for Harris (45), K Browne for Sinkey (48), S Savage for Dolan (56), D Guerin for Fanning (60+2).

Sligo: E Carden; R Chambers, C Johnston, L Casserly; D Walsh, D McLoughlin, R Sloyan; C Sheridan, R Doherty; M McDaniel, J Donlon, R Niland; L Marren, D O’Boyle, M Henry SUBS:- J Flynn for Henry (24), R O’Kelly Lynch for McDaniel, Z Mahon for Chambers (both HT), B Byrne for Flynn (35), C McMorrow for Donlon (39).

Referee:M McNally (Monaghan).