Kildare and Down challenge to set up novel final pairing
August 24, 2010Down and Kildare have never previously met in the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship. However, they did meet in this year's Allianz GAA Football National League with Down winning a Division II game easily in Newbridge last February.
Kildare are attempting to reach the All-Ireland final for the first time since 1998 (they lost to Galway) while Down's last appearance was in 1994 when they beat Dublin. Kildare last won the All-Ireland title in 1928.
Kildare will be having their 8th championship outing of the season, having relaunched their campaign in round one of the GAA Football All-Ireland Qualifiers after losing to Louth in the Leinster GAA Football Championship quarter-final.
Down, who lost to Tyrone in the Ulster GAA Football Championship semi-final, entered the qualifiers in round two and will be having their seventh outing on Sunday.
Irrespective of who wins on Sunday, the final will be a novel pairing as Cork have never played Down or Kildare in the decider. They last met Down in the championship in the 1994 All-Ireland semi-final which Down won by 1-13 to 0- 11. Cork last met Kildare in the championship in the 2008 quarter-final which they won by 2-11 to 1-11.
Paths to the semi-final
Down
Down 1-15 Donegal 2-10 (Ulster quarter-final) After extra-time
Tyrone 0-14 Down 0-10 (Ulster semi-final)
Down 1-14 Longford 1-11 (Qualifier Round 2)
Down 1-12 Offaly 1-10 (Qualifier Round 3)
Down 3-20 Sligo 0-10 (Qualifier Round 4)
Down 1-16 Kerry 1-10 (All-Ireland quarter-final)
Played 6, Won 4, Lost 1.
Average For: 1-15 Average Against: 1-11
Scorers
Down
Martin Clarke........1-24 (1-0 penalty, 0-13 frees, 0-4 '45')
Mark Poland..........1-15 (0-10 frees)
Daniel Hughes......0-12
Benny Coulter.......1-9
Ronan Murtagh......1-6
John Clarke............1-5
Ambrose Rodgers....1-5 (0-1 '45')
Declan Rooney......0-1
Paul McComiskey..0-4 (0-1 free)
Aidan Carr.............1-0
Peter Fitzpatrick.....0-2
Kevin McKernan....0-1
Conor Garvey.........0-1
Dan Gordon............0-1
Conor Maginn.........0-1
Kildare
Louth 1-22 Kildare 1-16 (Leinster quarter-final)
Kildare 0-15 Antrim 0-15 (Qualifier Round 1) After extra-time
Kildare 1-15 Antrim 0-9 (Replay)
Kildare 1-12 Leitrim 0-6 (Qualifier Round 2)
Kildare 2-17 Derry 1-9 (Qualifier Round 3)
Kildare 1-15 Monaghan 1-11 (Qualifier Round 4)
Kildare 2-17 Meath 1-12 (All-Ireland quarter-final)
Played 7; Won 5, Drew 1, Lost 1.
Average For: 1-16; Average Against: 1-10
Scorers
John Doyle...............1-43 (0-28 frees)
James Kavanagh.......2-13 (0-2 frees)
Padraig O'Neill........1-9
Eamonn Callaghan....1-9
Eoghan O'Flaherty...0-10 (0-3 frees)
Ronan Sweeney.......1-6
Alan Smith..............2-2
Emmet Bolton.........0-4
Daryl Flynn..............0-3
Morgan O'Flaherty..0-2
David Whyte............0-1
Gary White..............0-1
Dermot Earley.........0-1
Keith Cribben..........0-1
Hugh Lynch.............0-1
Hugh McGrillen.......0-1
Last competitive clash...
Down 1-16 Kildare 0-8 (Allianz GAA Football National League Div II: February 7th, 2010, Newbridge)
Down made a great start to the Allianz GAA Football National League, easily beating Kildare in Newbridge. Kildare started well but Down gradually took control and a goal Paul McComiskey set them on their way to a lead of 1-7 to 0-6 at half-time. Kildare managed just two points in the second half while Down added a further 0-9.
Kildare had Gary White and Daryl Flynn sent off in the second half.
Down: B McVeigh; D McCartan, B McArdle, D Rafferty; K McKernan, J Colgan, C Garvey (0-1); A Rodgers (0-3), K King; C Maginn, M Clarke (0-3, all frees), D Hughes (0-1); P McComiskey (1-4, 0-2 frees), J Clarke (0-2), B Coulter. Subs: C Laverty (0-1) for Maginn, S Kearney (0-1) for Hughes, M Poland for Coulter; P Fitzpatrick for King, P Greenan for Rodgers.
Kildare: S McCormack; A MacLochlainn, M Foley, E Bolton; G White, B Flanagan, A Rainbow; D Flynn, D Earley; G White (0-1), P O'Neill (0-1), R Kelly (0-3); K Ennis (0-2), R Sweeney, J Kavanagh (0-1). Subs: H McGrillen for Foley, K Donnelly for Sweeney, D Lyons for Rainbow, K Cribbin for Kavanagh, R Walsh for Cribbin.
Last Five All-Ireland Semi-finals
Down
1994: Down 1-13 Cork 0-11
1991: Down 2-9 Kerry 0-8
1981: Offaly 0-12 Down 0-6
1978: Dublin 1-16 Down 0-8
1971: Galway 3-11 Down 2-7
Kildare
2000: Galway 0-15 Kildare 2-6
1998: Kildare 0-10 Kerry 1-9
1956: Cork 0-9 Kildare 0-5
1935: Kildare 2-6 Mayo 0-7
1931: Kildare 0-10 Cavan 1-5
GAA Football All-Ireland Championship Briefs
• Cork are back in the All-Ireland final for the third time in four seasons and are seeking their first success since 1990. Their win over Dublin on Sunday means that with the exception of Kerry, nobody has beaten them in the championship since Fermanagh won a qualifier tie in Croke Park in 2004.
• Dublin's Bernard Brogan has shot to the top of the championship scoring charts on 3-42 (51pts) after landing 1-7 against Cork last
Sunday. It puts him five points ahead of John Doyle (1-43) but the Kildare man has a chance to catch up against next Sunday in the second semi-final against Down. Cork's Daniel Goulding (1-34) is in third place.
• Kildare are bidding to become the first Leinster team to reach the All- Ireland final since Meath in 2001. Meath (1999) were the last Leinster team to win the title.
• Cork's return to the Munster final means that Munster will be represented in the All-Ireland final for the 7th successive year.
GAA FOOTBALL ALL-IRELAND SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010
CONNACHT
May 2: Quarter-final: Galway 2-13 New York 0-12, Gaelic Park.
May 30: Quarter-final: Roscommon 0-14 London 0-6 Ruislip.
June 5: Quarter-final: Sligo 0-15 Mayo 1-8, Markievicz Park.
June 20: Semi-final: Roscommon 1-13 Leitrim 0-11, Dr.Hyde Park.
June 27: Semi-final: Galway 1-10 Sligo 1-10, Pearse Stadium.
July 3: Semi-final replay: Sligo 1-14 Galway 0-16, Markievicz Park.
July 18: Final: Roscommon 0-14 Sligo 0-13, Castlebar.
LEINSTER
May 16: First Round: Wicklow 3-13 Carlow 0-12, Portlaoise.
May 23: First Round: Meath 1-20 Offaly, 2-7; Portlaoise; Louth 1-11 Longford 1-7, Portlaoise.
June 5: Quarter-final: Louth 1-22 Kildare 1-16, Navan.
June 6: Quarter-final: Westmeath 0-15 Wicklow 1-11, Tullamore.
June 13: Quarter-finals: Laois 1-16 Meath 2-13 (after extra-time); Dublin 2-16 Wexford 0-15 (after extra-time). Both in Croke Park.
June 19: Quarter-final replay: Meath 2-14 Laois 0-10, Tullamore.
June 27: Semi-finals: Meath 5-9 Dublin 0-13; Louth 1-15 Westmeath 2-10, Croke Park.
July 11: Final, Croke Park: Meath 1-12 Louth 1-10, Croke Park.
MUNSTER
May 16: Quarter-final: Kerry 2-18 Tipperary 2-6, Thurles.
May 23: Quarter-final: Waterford 1-10 Clare 0-9, Dungarvan.
June 6: Semi-finals: Kerry 0-15 Cork 0-15, Killarney; Limerick 1-17 Waterford 1-9, Dungarvan.
June 13: Semi-final replay: Kerry 1-15 Cork 1-14 (after extra-time), Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
July 4: Final: Kerry 1-17 Limerick 1-14, Killarney.
ULSTER
May 16: First round: Armagh 1-10 Derry 1-7, Celtic Park.
May 23: Quarter-final: Tyrone 2-14 Antrim 1-13, Casement Park.
May 30: Quarter-final: Down 1-15 Donegal 2-10 (After extra-time), Ballybofey.
June 6: Quarter-final: Monaghan 1-18 Armagh 0-9, Casement Park.
June 12: Quarter-final: Fermanagh 1-13 Cavan 0-13, Kingspan Breffni Park.
June 19: Semi-final: Tyrone 0-14 Down 0-10, Casement Park.
June 27: Semi-final: Monaghan 0-21 Fermanagh 2-8, Kingspan Breffni Park.
July 18: Final: Tyrone 1-14 Monaghan 0-7, Clones.
ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 26: Qualifiers Round 1: Derry 1-18 Carlow 2-9, Dr. Cullen Park; Kildare 0-
15 Antrim 0-15, Newbridge (after extra-time); Offaly 2-18 Clare 1-18, Tullamore
(After extra-time); Longford 1-12 Mayo 0-14, Pearse Park; Armagh 2-14
Donegal 0-11, Crossmaglen; Cavan 0-15 Wicklow 2-8, Kingspan Breffni Park.
June 27: Wexford 4-22 London 0-9, Ruislip; Tipperary 0-13 Laois 0-12, Thurles.
July 3: Kildare 1-15 Antrim 0-9 (Replay)
July 10/11: Qualifiers Round 2: Kildare 1-12 Leitrim 0-6; Dublin 1-21 Tipperary 1-13, Croke Park; Cork 1-19 Cavan 0-4, Páirc Uí Chaoimh; Offaly 0-15 Waterford 0-10, Tullamore; Wexford 1-11 Galway 0-13, Pearse Stadium; Armagh 0-11 Fermanagh 0-7, Enniskillen; Down 1-14 Longford 1-10, Newry; Derry 0-13 Westmeath 1-7, Mullingar.
July 17: Qualifiers Round 3: Dublin 0-14 Armagh 0-11, Croke Park; Cork 0-12 Wexford 0-5, Wexford Park; Kildare 2-17 Derry 1-9, Celtic Park; Down 1-12 Offaly 1-10, Tullamore.
July 24: Qualifiers Round 4: Dublin 2-14 Louth 0-13, Croke Park; Kildare 1-15 Monaghan 1-11, Croke Park; Cork 0-16 Limerick 1-11, Gaelic Rounds (after extra-time); Down 3-20 Sligo 0-10, Kingspan Breffni Park.
July 31: All-Ireland quarter-finals: Down 1-16 Kerry 1-10, Croke Park; Dublin 1- 15 Tyrone 0-13, Croke Park.
August 1: All Ireland quarter-finals: Cork 1-16 Roscommon 0-10, Croke Park; Kildare 2-17 Meath 1-12, Croke Park.
August 22: All-Ireland semi-final: Cork 1-15 Dublin 1-14, Croke Park.
Next Sunday: All-Ireland semi-final: Down v Kildare, Croke Park.
September 19: All-Ireland final: Cork v Kildare or Down, Croke Park. Tweet
