31 GOALS DECISIVE IN KILDARE WIN
■■Kildare 2-9 Tyrone 0-12 LGFA LIDL LEAGUE DIV 2 FINAL
FIRST-HALF goals from Claire Sullivan and Neasa Dooley were crucial yesterday as Kildare defeated Tyrone to claim their first Lidl National Football League Division 2 crown since 2004.
After Roisin Byrne had opened the scoring with a second-minute point, Emma Conroy responded with a brace to edge Tyrone in front.
However, Kildare bagged their first goal on six minutes when Byrne fed the raiding Sullivan for a low finish.
Dead-ball specialists Byrne and Maria Canavan — an extended member of that famous Tyrone family — went on to trade points, but with sunshine making way for driving rain in Dublin, this showpiece suddenly became less free-flowing.
Nevertheless, a twopoint salvo by Canavan got Tyrone level in the 18th minute and they squeezed into the ascendancy again when Sasha Byrne found the target from close range.
Yet Byrne added a brace of her own just as the conditions started to brighten up again and thanks to Dooley’s superb three-pointer on 27 minutes, Kildare brought a 2-4 to 0-6 cushion into the interval.
Tyrone, who drew with Kildare in the Division 2 group stages, were still in contention on the restart, however, and another Canavan free got them back up and running.
Point
Captain Aoibhinn McHugh also burst through for a point that shook the woodwork on its way over, before Kildare opened their second-half account on 41 minutes through Trina Duggan.
Canavan and Lilywhites sub Lara Curran cancelled each other out with points as the third quarter drew to a close, only for the Tyrone sharpshooter to once again chip in with a placed ball effort. SCORERS FOR KILDARE: N Dooley 1-1, R Byrne 0-4 (2f), C Sullivan 1-0, T Duggan, E Dowling, L Curran, N Farrelly 0-1 each.
SCORERS FOR TYRONE: M Canavan 0-8 (7f), E Conroy
0-2, A McHugh, S Byrne 0-1 each. (left)