Kildare 2-20
Meath 1-17

Sub Chris Bonus' second-half goal sealed Kildare's Kehoe Cup 'semi' win over Meath at Newbridge on Saturday to secure a final date with Westmeath.

The Kildare substitute struck the decisive score within five minutes of his introduction and left it 2-15 to 1-14.

David Harney's accuracy from placed balls was another contributory factor as Andy Comerford's charges repeated last year's NHL Division 3A final win over The Royals.

Harney's 0-8 all came from frees and included his side's last three scores of the game in which the home side were never headed.

David Kirby's pointed frees and Stephen Clynch efforts from play kept Meath in contention. However their inside line lacked the sharpness to upset the home defence.

Early points from full-forward Mark Moloney got Kildare - who defeated Louth in the previous round - off to a flying start. A Peter Durnin point couldn't stem the white tide that yielded Martin Fitzgerald's fifth minute goal.

Inside 14 minutes eight points separated the sides, 1-7 to 0-2, before the visitors settled. Tony Murphy was causing a lot of problems for Meath in the half-forward line.

A Durnin goal midway through the half lleft just four points between the teams, 1-3 to 1-7 on a dry overcast afternoon. The sides shared ten points in the second quarter with Kildare able to respond positively when threatened.

Mark Moloney might have netted himself but his effort was well stopped by Meath 'keeper Stephen Quinn. When the sliotar was recycled the Celbridge-man pointed.

A neat exchange between Phillip Garvey and Clynch, before the latter sent over, left just three points in it. Martin Moloney's third score of the opening period left it 1-12 to 1-8 at the break.

Points from Clynch (two) and Kirby trimmed the deficit to the minimum within three minutes of the restart.

Richie Hoban's pointed long range free stymied the Meath's mini recovery. By the 48th minutes the margin was down to a single point again thanks to a Clynch effort from play.

Some slack marking allowed Bonus in for his side's second goal in the 51st minute as Kildare advanced to a final meeting with Westmeath who were 2-26 to 1-11 winners over Carlow IT in the other semi-final.

Kildare - Damien Byrne; P. Curtin, D. Ryan, J. Doran; P. Reidy, R. Hoban (0-2, 1 f, 1 65), N. O Muineachain; K. Divilly, M. Divilly; T. Murphy (0-3), D. Kennedy (0-1), D. Harney (0-8, fs); P. Moloney, M. Moloney (0-4), M. Fitzgerald (1-2). Subs - Danny Byrne for Doran, J. Houlihan for K. Divilly (both 41), C. Bonus (1-0) for P. Moloney (46).

Meath - S. Quinn; D. Donoghue, E. Fitzgerald, S. Donoghue; M. Horan (0-1), P. Fagan, M. Lynch; S. Clynch (0-7, 1 f), J. Boyle; P. Durnin (1-1), P. Garvey, K. Keena; J. Keena, N. Horan, D. Kirby (0-8). Subs - A. Nestor for K. Keena (47), P. Keogh for Boyle (57), N. McLoughlin for Fitzgerald (67).

Referee - D. Hughes (Carlow). Tweet

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