Kildare were far too good for Donegal at Newbridge, romping to an effortless 1-17 to 1-9 victory.

The winners were in charge from start to finish and Donegal looked beaten from early on.

Michael Murphy put Donegal in front for the only time in the match but Ken Donnelly, John Doyle (2) and Karl Ennis were all on target to put the Lilywhites into the ascendancy, 0-4 to 0-1, after 16 minutes.

Donegal went 21 minutes without a score as Kildare added a goal from Gary White. Conal Dunne replied with a three-pointer for the visitors. Doyle's point made it 1-6 to 1-1 to the home side.

Kildare got two of the next three points to lead by six at the turnaround, 1-8 to 1-2.

Colm McFadden bagged the opening score of the second half and the visitors had a lucky escape when Michael Boyle saved well from Dermot Earley.

David White and Murphy hit successive points for the losers but they still trailed by 1-11 to 1-5 at the three-quarters stage, with Doyle clipping over the latest Lilywhite effort.

Doyle notched five points in total before being replaced late on. All in all, this was a relatively comfortable win for Kieran McGeeney's men. Tweet

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