Mayo 3-4
Kildare 0-12

by Stuart Tynan

Mayo kept their Lidl NFL Division 1 survival hopes intact after a nerve-wracking one-point win over Kildare in Swinford Amenity Park.

The result means Mayo can stay up if they beat Waterford next Saturday and Tyrone fail to beat Kildare.

The Green and Red were on the ropes in the second half, scoring only one point as the Lilywhites reeled them in, and Leah McGovern saw a point attempt crash off the crossbar in the final moments to secure the draw Kildare needed for their own safety in the division.

Kildare got the opening two points before Mayo got the first of their three first half goals, as excellent work from Chelsea Doherty and Bree Hession put in the returning Sinead Walsh to fire into the bottom corner.  

A trio of Walsh points kept Kildare at arm’s length before the corner forward got her second goal on 27 minutes after capitalising on a spilled ball by Kildare goalkeeper Mary Hulgraine.

Nessa Dooley and Roisin Byrne brought Kildare level, but Mayo got a third goal from the penalty spot through Annie Gough after Aoife Geraghty was fouled.

Sinead Walsh and Lisa Shaw traded the opening scores of the second half on 34 and 35 minutes, the former being the last score of the game for Mayo as Kildare began to claw their way back.

Three from Nessa Dooley and one each from Lisa Shaw and Aoife Murnane brought to within one with ten minutes of normal time remaining.

Walsh missed a free for Mayo in the closing stages while Dooley saw two chances for Kildare go wide as the game entered injury-time. As the seconds ticked away, Leah McGovern’s point that looked set to keep Kildare up and send Mayo down cannoned back off the bar and Saoirse Lally made the crucial interception to get the ball away and win a vital three-points for Liam McHale’s side.

Scorers – Mayo: S Walsh 2-4, A Gough 1-0p.

Kildare: N Dooley 0-5 (3f), R Byrne 0-2, M Aspel 0-1, A Rattigan 0-1, E Dowling 0-1f, L Shaw 0-1, A Murnane 0-1.

Mayo: J Gawalkiewicz; L Wallace, C Durkan, S El Massry; D Caldwell, J Mortimer, S Lally; H Reape, A Geraghty; C Doherty, E Murray, B Hession; A Gough, C Keane, S Walsh. Subs: E Brennan for El Massry (15-28 temp sub), L Hanley for Mortimer (43), C Whyte for Reape (48), S Delaney for Hession (48), M Cannon for Doherty (52), A Flanagan for Keane (54).

Kildare: M Hulgraine; R Sargent, L Lenehan, E Wheeler; M Doherty, L Dunlea, M Aspel; C Sullivan, G Wheeler; C Moran, A Rattigan, N Dooley; L Shaw, E Dowling, R Byrne. Subs: A Murnane for G Wheeler (35), L Doran for Shaw (46) A Mahon for E Wheeler (46), A Prizeman for Dowling (49), L McGovern for Moran (54).

Referee: Aaron Clogher (Roscommon).

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