Kildare 0-18
Clare 1-14

Kildare will be playing their league football in Division 1 next year after Paul Cribbin's injury-time point downed a brave Clare side in Newbridge this afternoon.

Cribbin's strike came in the 70th minute and helped secure back-to-back promotions for Cian O'Neill's side as they avoided a late draw after Eoin Cleary had dragged his late 35-metre free wide for the Banner men.

Clare had trailed by five points at the half but fired in a goal through Shane Brennan in the 42nd minute to propel themselves towards a two-point lead and that required a late rally from the Lilywhites to assure themselves of top tier status for next year with a game to go.

The hosts had looked much more superior during the first-half, with Kevin Feeley's frees and a brace from Niall Kelly helping them on their way to a commanding 0-11 to 0-6 lead, as Cleary and David Tubridy did most of the damage for Colm Collins' side.

Brennan's goal seven minutes into the restart turned things around for the chasing team and he could have had another three minutes later but for a brilliant stop by Mark Donnellan in the Kildare goal.

It did not halt the underdogs' resolve however, as Brennan, Cleary and Jamie Malone made it a two-point game and the loss of Feely, who had contributed 0-7, to injury soon afterwards would be a substantial blow to the home side's scoring prowess.

Cleary landed two points to draw matters level late on before Ollie Lyons and Ben McCormack combined to find Cribbin for what proved to be the winner, sealing Kildare's return to Division 1 for the first time since 2014.

Kildare - M Donnellan; M O'Grady, D Hyland, O Lyons; J Byrne, E Doyle, K Cribbin; K Feely (0-7f), T Moolick (0-1); F Conway (0-1), N Kelly (0-2), P Cribbin (0-3); D Slattery, F Dowling (0-2, 1f), C Healy (0-1). Subs: C Hartley for D Slattery (BC), B McCormack (0-1) for K Feely (BC), C McNally for C Healy, E Callaghan for N Kelly.

Clare - Joe Hayes; M McMahon, K Harnett, John Hayes; L Markham, G Kelly, D Ryan; G Brennan (0-1), C O'Connor; C O'Dea, K Sexton (0-1), S Brennan (1-2); E Cleary (0-7, 3f), D Tubridy (0-2, 1f), J Malone (0-1). Subs: D Nagle for John Hayes (BC), C Russell for C O'Dea, E Collins for S Brennan.

Referee - P Hughes.

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