Kildare survive late Limerick scare to land Tailteann Cup crown

July 12, 2025

Kildare captain Kevin Feely lifts the Tailteann Cup ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Kildare came through a battle with Limerick this afternoon to land their first Tailteann Cup title and earn promotion to the Sam Maguire Cup race for next season.

Brian Flanagan’s men came out on top by 1-24 to 2-19 in the sweltering heat at Croke Park, where they survived a late goal scare from their Munster counterparts to win by two points in the end.

Billed as hot favourites coming in, the Lilywhites had settled in well to this decider by running up a 0-3 to 0-1 lead inside the opening five minutes, but they’d behind a minute afterwards thanks to Emmet Rigter’s point being backed up by a Cillian Fahy goal.

Rob Childs made it a three-point game in favour of the Shannonsiders prior to Kildare getting a run of unanswered scores, which included a two-pointer from ‘Man of the Match’ Darragh Kirwan (0-8) and an Alex Beirne goal in the 14th minute.

From there, Flangan’s charges stretched their advantage out to seven points prior to the scores of Rigter, Danny Neville and Peter Nash (2) trimming the Division 4 champions’ deficit down to four by half-time (1-13 to 1-9).

Josh Ryan’s two-pointer and an Iain Corbett white flag left the minimum between the sides within six minutes of the restart and a deflected Killian Ryan goal saw Limerick hitting the front five minutes later.

Kildare responded well to the concession, sending over a two-pointer via Brian McLoughlin and grabbing more points through Kirwan (2), skipper Kevin Feely (free) and McLoughlin to lead by three with five minutes remaining.

Colm Dalton made it a four-point game but Nash's point at the other end made for a nail-biting finish which saw Cian Burke called to action in the closing seconds to keep the ball out of Kildare’s net, with the ball floating over his bar instead of under at the second attempt on goal as the hooter sounded at headquarters.


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