Kildare 1-11 Limerick 0-11 John Doyle's second-half goal proved the difference as Kildare saw off Limerick's brave challenge at the Gaelic Grounds to take their place in the third round of the All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers. Inspired by the sound-free taking of star forward Ian Ryan, Limerick lead by four points in the early stages of the second-half, but a brace of points from Doyle and one from last week's goal hero James Kavanagh saw them creep back to within a point of the Treaty County after the first quarter of the half. Ryan responded with a free, but when Doyle hit the net there was no coming back for the hosts as Kieran McGeeney's charges played some good possession football in closing stages to hold out for a three-point win. The game was a mere 25 seconds old before Limerick midfielder John Galvin pointed Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's men into the lead. Three white flags (1 '45) from Doyle followed, but Ian Ryan and Sean Buckley levelled the game soon after. Limerick then began to edge proceedings with Ryan and en superb effort from Buckley regaining them the lead. Kildare sent over points from Alan Smith and Doyle in response, but James Ryan ensured a lead of 0-8 to 0-5 for the home side after gathering quickly the ball and firing over. Ian Ryan would see a goal chance crash off the post before the break, while Ken Donnelly had an effort to bring the teams level at the break denied by the Limerick net-minder. An early Ian Ryan free got the second-half underway after John Galvin had been impeded in a suitable position. However, Two Doyle white flags either side of James Kavanagh's score got the game back to the minimum margin for the Lilywhites. Ryan and Michael Foley traded scores before Doyle stormed up field to release an waiting Doyle who netted the game's only goal 13 minutes from time. Both Ryan (free) and Doyle put over classy efforts to maintain the gap at two, with just a kick of the ball maybe defining the game. However, Gary White was right on cue for Kildare as they held on strongly for possession and released the substitute who all but assured them of a place of in the last 12 of the All-Ireland SFC. Kildare - E Murphy; M O'Flaherty, K O'Neill, A McLoughlin; E Bolton, M Foley, M Scanlon; K Brennan, D Earley; J Kavanagh (0-1), P O'Neill (0-1), E Callaghan; A Smyth, K Donnelly (0-1), J Doyle (1-6, 3f, '45, sl). Subs - D Flynn for Brennan, A White for O'Neill, M Conway (0-2) for Smyth. Limerick - S Kiely; D Carroll, J McCarthy, S Gallagher; P Browne, S Lavin (0-1), P Ranahan; J Donovan (0-1), J Galvin (0-1); S Kelly, J Ryan (0-1), S Buckley (0-2); G Collins, M Crowley, I Ryan. (0-5, 5f). Subs - L O'Dwyer for Browne, G Noonan for Kelly, J Cooke for Noonan, S Kelly for Donovan. Ref - S Doyle (Wexford) Tweet

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