Kildare 1-8 Meath 0-10 Darrock Mulhall was the main man as a strongly supported Kildare side rallied to oust holders Meath by the narrowest margin in an exciting Leinster MFC semi-final at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday afternoon. Kildare who reached this stage with big wins over Wicklow and Wexford found themselves in big bother when trailing by 0-3 to 0-8 after 37 minutes. With John Comerford leading the charge from midfield, Brian Murphy charges struck 1-4 in inside seven minutes and were able to withstand a late Meath rally that should have earned extra time at least. Mulhall started the aforementioned scoring burst when his goal effort was brilliantly tipped over his own bar by Meath 'keeper Conor McHugh. Padraig Keogh's free narrowed the deficit further before Mulhall pointedbrilliantly from play despite pressure from Meath defender Kevin Mallon. Then Mulhall struck to devastating effect in the 45^th minute. A long clearance by centre-half-back John Byrne found the Athy youngster who fired to the Meath net from close range at the hospital end and Kildare led for the first time, 1-6 to 0-8. Within seconds the Kildare number 13 struck again, doubling his side's advantage with assistance from Paul Cribben. Meath got the deficit down to the minimum on two occasions subsequently with points from play from Ailbhe Mahon and Emmet Boyle. In between Mulhall closed his and Kildare's account from a close range free. Boyle's point arrived in the 60th minute and then in the first minute of stoppage time, Damien Carroll and Harrison Silke combined to find Conor Deveraux in front of the Kildare goal. The Dunshaughlin shot wide on the turn. In the next attack Sean Tobin placed Silke - who earned extra time in the first round win over Offaly - but the Na Fianna lost control of the ball and Meath's hopes of a return to Croke Park expired. With the breeze at their backs Meath opened with intent posting four points without reply in the opening nine minutes. A Tobin free got the home side off the mark inside a minute. Silke doubled their advantage with Padraig McKeever providing the assist while the third came from a Tobin 45 eight minutes in. McKeever got the fourth score at the hospital end with assistance from Tolan. At the other end Meath full-back Ciaran Lenehan did well to get a fist on the ball in to deny rangy Kildare full-forward Padraig Fogarty possession. The tempo dropped and nearly 19 minutes elapsed before Cribben got the visitors off the mark with a fine effort. An exemplary piece of direct football resulted in Meath's fifth point with David Coyle and Damien Carroll providing the opening for Tobin to register. A Mulhall pointed free in the 25th minute proved to the last score of the half. Kildare passed up a great chance to reach half-time on level terms with Meath when Mulhall's well struck penalty hit Conor McHugh's right-hand-upright. In the last action of the half Damien Carroll was wide from a free that seemed scorable and Meath held a slender 0-5 to 0-2 interval advantage having had the better of the opening half. Kildare - M. Donnellan; K. Corrigan, S. Dowling, P. Cullen; C. O'Shea, J. Byrne, E. Doyle; T. Moolick, J. Comerford; P. Cocoman, P. Cribben (0-1), S. Hurley; D. Mulhall (1-5, 0-2 fs), P. Fogarty (0-1, free), C. Reynolds (0-1). Subs - J. McAndrew for Hurley (38), B. Davey for Cocoman (53), C. Bolton for Fogarty (60). Meath - C. McHugh; G. Kennedy, C. Lenehan, D. Coyle; M. McCormack, B. Menton, K. Mallon; D. Carroll, A. Mahon (0-1); C. Deveraux, P. McKeever (0-1), E. Boyle (0-1); S. Tobin (0-4, 2 frees, 1 45), H. Silke (0-1), L. Tolan. Subs - M. O'Sullivan (0-2) for Tolan (25 ), D. Keoghan for Coyle (48), D. Larkin for McKeever (52), T. Rahill for Mallon (54) Referee - B. O'Shea (Dublin). Tweet

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