Kildare keep Westmeath at arm's length to secure Leinster SFC final berth
May 15, 2022
Westmeath's Ronan O'Toole is tackled by Kevin Flynn and Tony Archbold of Kildare. ©INPHO/Evan Treacy.
Glenn Ryan's Kildare proved too good for Westmeath in the first of today's two Leinster SFC semi-finals at Croke Park.
The Lilywhites laid the foundations for this deserved 1-21 to 2-15 win in the first-half when unleashing a deluge of scores in succession from goalscorer Jimmy Hyland, Darragh Kirwan, Ben McCormack, Tony Archbold and Alex Beirne.
Westmeath enjoyed a dream start to an entertaining contest with Ronan O'Toole beating goalkeeper Mark Donnellan for the opening goal after just 15 seconds to lead by 1-1 to 0-2 on three minutes.
But they were unable to build on that as Kildare capitalised on their unforced errors to take a 1-13 to 2-6 lead into half-time.
The Lake County goaled again just before the break when the ball fell kindly to the on rushing Jamie Gonoud who blasted home after good work by Ronan Wallace to break it down.
With Naas star Kirwan showing customary accuracy, Kildare looked capable of running away with the game as they opened up a 1-20 to 2-8 advantage thirteen minutes into the second-half.
The Tailteann Cup-bound Westmeath stuck to their task though and brought the margin down to three by the full-time whistle.
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