Kildare 2-07 New York 0-08 On a very difficult evening last Saturday, New York and Kildare put on an entertaining exhibition of football in a light freezing snow storm. As the snow froze on the surface conditions became very dangerous but to both teams credit they played on and gave a good display of their wares. Kildare were on the end of a holiday that included time spent in San Francisco before they arrived in NY for their final weekend and they certainly were never in doubt of losing this game. That being said New York did battle the whole way and will be happy with the effort shown. The first half opened with a Kildare point within 40 seconds when Rob Kelly chipped over. New York countered with two balls into the right offensive corner but Gary White was first to both to clear easily. Five minutes in John Murtagh had the home sides first score from a free when Nicky Dineen was fouled after good work by Tom Hardwick but the game changed dramatically in the next five minutes. Alan Raferty stepped in front of a Kildare through ball to deny Alan Smith a scoring chance but it was followed by sustained Kildare pressure. A long ball dropped into the small square quadrant from the foot of Anthony Rainbow after he advanced down the right wing eight minutes in. Willie Henderson got the slightest of touch's to it in front of two NY players and the ball trickled to the net. NY did push down the field in its aftermath with Murtagh again pointing a free after Dineen was again fouled but disaster struck again shortly after for the Big Apple defense. Kildare moved the ball down the left wing in front of the press box with speed before Rob Kelly was fouled. His free dropped to the small square and looked to be in good hands with the defense but it was given back to the Lilywhites' with Willie Henderson flicking to Emmitt Bolton who had the easy task of shooting low to the net. 2-01 to 0-02 with 12 minutes gone, the leaders were in cruise control. NY had a [pair of wides in its aftermath with Scott Conroy off the mark before they had two 45s in succession but they were eventually cleared. Nicky Dineen did have their third from the right wing a very good score but Rob Kelly had Kildare's second point and fourth score when he linked with Smith to again put the lead at five points. The ground was now getting more treacherous as the snow intensified and both sides used their subs at will. They swapped points before the break with Kieran McGeeney and Rob Kelly the marksmen before Kildare had the final tally of the first half a David Whyte point. With the score line at the half 2-04 to 0-04 the game was still at hand as the second half opened. Kildare had the first two chances but two bad wides by White and Bolton were the result. They were certainly pushing the game in rough conditions. Against the run of play New York had a free chance when John Murtagh was fouled and he pushed the ball over for his third of the evening. Kildare attacked again however and they quickly cancelled out the score with one of their own a David White gem when he had loads of options but shot himself. The game was being played in the best of spirits despite the conditions but Alan Caralon, and Dermot Keane had good interceptions. New York had their sixth point when Scott Conroy popped over after Nicky Dineen did the spade work before he was met by a hard shoulder by Gary White, the Cork player still got the assist. The kick out was again won by Kildare however and they worked the ball forward to produce a goal chance but Brian Flanagan shot low and wide from a good position. Two balls were dropped into the hands of Alan Hearty as Kildare pressed forward before Ken Donnelly had an excellent score. John Murtagh had a New York point in reply from another free when he was fouled after an Aiden Power through ball but with five minutes on the clock Kildare again cancelled it out with a Keith Cribbin point after sub John Doyle had made a long solo run down the right wing. As the game went into its waning moments New York did have the final score of the outing, a Murtagh point from play when Tom Hardwick set him up before Tom Fahey called a halt to proceedings a touch early but with no one complaining. Kildare did enough to get the win although the goals were more from mistakes. Shane McCormack made good choices from the kick outs on a bad day, Anthony Rainbow was the best of the defenders with Damien Hendy, and Gary White also showing well. They won midfield with O'Neill and Whyte perfect link men, Rob Kelly, Alan Smith, Willie Henderson and sub Keith Cribbin were always dangerous on the ball. New York will be a lot happier with this performance than the last outing. Dermot Keane, Alan Raferty, Jason Kelly, Kevin McGeeney, John Murtagh who did well with difficult ball, he was fouled three times for frees that he tapped over, and Nicky Dineen were the most prominent. Kildare 1 Shane McCormack 2 Andrew Lenihen 3 Mike Foley 4 Gary White 5 Mark Scanlon 6 Damien Hendy 7 Anthony Rainbow 8 Padraig O'Neill 9 David Whyte (0-02) 10 Ken Donnelly (0-01)11 Rob Kelly (0-03)12 Martin O'Flaherty 13 Alan Smith 14 Willie Henderson (1-00)15 Emmitt Bolton (1-00) Subs Keith Cribbin (0-01) John Doyle New York 1 Alan Hearty 2 Patsy Martin 3 Alan Caralan 4 Dermot Keane 5 Aiden Power 6 Alan Rafertyb7 8 Robbie Moran 9 Tom Hardwick 10 Kevin McGeeney 11 Scott Conroy (0-01)12 Jason Kelly 13 Nicky Dineen (0-01)14 John Murtagh (0-05)15 Shane Carty Subs Thomas McGovern Conor Brady Kieran McGeeney (0-01) Referee Tom Fahey Tweet

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