Kildare 1-20
Wicklow 3-13

Mark Delaney's late winning point handed Kildare a dramatic victory over Wicklow in a wind-swept replay at Arklow.

The home side were left to rue a huge wides tally as the Lilywhites finished strongly to set up a second round date with Kerry next weekend. Casey O'Brien's charges looked like prevailing when they led by 3-11 to 1-13 with 18 minutes to go, but the visitors dominated the closing stages to eke out a win.

Wicklow led by 2-8 to 1-7 at the interval, but would have been out of sight if they hadn't been so wasteful in front of the posts. Andy O'Brien's ninth-minute goal handed them a 1-2 to 0-2 lead and Mikey Lee's frees kept them in the driving seat before Lee soloed through to score a second goal which extended the Garden County's lead to 2-6 to 0-5 after 26 minutes.

But the excellent Gerry Keegan - who finished with 1-4 - netted at the other end five minutes later to leave Kildare just four points adrift at the short whistle.

Lee's free-taking kept Wicklow in front until Kildare's late surge saw them snatch victory. The hosts almost forced extra-time, but veteran Jonathan 'Bosco' O'Neill's injury-time free dropped agonisingly short.

Paul Divilly top-scored for the Lilywhites with 0-8.

Kildare - P Dermody; J Doran, M Moloney, P Curtin; D Harney, N Muineachain, R Hoban; K Whelan, M Fitzgerald (0-1); R Kelly, P Divilly (0-8, 7f), B Deay (0-2); G Keegan (1-4), T Murphy (0-3), P Downey (0-1). Subs: E O'Neill for K Whelan, M Delaney (0-1) for P Downey.

Wicklow - T Kennedy; G Bermingham (0-1), S Kelly, L Moloney; G Byrne, J Henderson, L Kennedy; E Kearns, R Keddy; C Moorehouse (1-1), M Lee (1-8, 0-6f), J O'Neill (0-3); A O'Brien (1-0), W O'Gorman, D Staunton.

Referee - D Hughes. Tweet

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