Round-up: Weekend's Ladies Football provincial championship action

Dublin manager Paul Casey said they knew they would need to produce an excellent performance to see off a Kildare side bidding for their first TG4 Leinster senior football title.

Late goals from Niamh Crowley and Caoimhe O’Connor made all the difference at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon as Dublin secured their 13th consecutive TG4 Leinster senior football championship title.

“Obviously we’re delighted to be Leinster champions tonight,” said Casey. “Tough game. We knew it was going to be against a very good Kildare side, but I thought our girls in fairness, they improved massively as the game went on. It was nip and tuck for large periods there, but the goals made a huge difference to us.

“We got ourselves into a good position a couple of times and they hit us then with a goal, but I thought our girls reacted to both of their goals very, very well. I think we went down and scored a point almost straight away after the first goal, which showed huge mental strength for our girls.

“The way they reacted to that. Until we got the goals there towards the end, there was only a point or two in it and we knew it was going to be that way,” added Casey.

Kildare, appearing in their first Leinster final since 2009, trailed by 0-9 to 1-5 at the break but had no answer to Dublin’s strong finish.

“When we reflect on this in the coming few days, it’s very small margins,” said Kildare manager Pat Sullivan.

“When we got that second goal, we needed to stretch on and go on. I think I looked at the clock and I think there was nine minutes or just under nine minutes left. We were a point up and really demanding the game. Defensive wise, very structured, really, really good.”

Elsewhere, a glorious weekend for Westmeath football kicked off on Saturday when they defeated Wexford by 2-20 to 4-8 to win the TG4 Leinster intermediate title.

Carlow won the Leinster junior crown with a 2-12 to 0-8 win over Longford, while in Ulster Antrim won the junior title with a 3-18 to 2-6 win over Derry and Cavan were crowned intermediate champions with a 4-13 to 1-20 success over neighbours Monaghan.

TG4 Leinster Junior Championship Final
Carlow 2-12 Longford 0-8

TG4 Leinster Intermediate Championship Final
Westmeath 2-20 Wexford 4-8

TG4 Ulster Junior Championship Final
Antrim 3-18 Derry 2-6

TG4 Ulster Intermediate Championship Final (aet)
Cavan 4-13 Monaghan 1-20

Munster Senior B
Limerick 1-10 Cork 2-7
Clare 3-10 Tipperary 1-8

TG4 Leinster Senior Championship FinalDublin 2-12 Kildare 2-6