Allianz League Division Two

DONEGAL 1-20 KILDARE 0-10

By Chris McNulty at Ballyshannon

Donegal will make an immediate return to Division 1 of the Allianz Football League after a dominant win over Kildare.

Declan Bonner’s team laid the foundations in a one-sided first half, after which they led by 12 points, and the Ulster champions were never in danger.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Jamie Brennan tucked past Mark Donnellan after being played in by Jason McGee’s clever pass in behind. Brennan fired home to put Donegal 16 points ahead.

Kildare’s woes had already been compounded when captain Eoin Doyle was black-carded just two minutes after the restart when referee Paddy Neilan’s attention was drawn to an off-the-ball incident.

Things got even worse for the Lilywhites when Kevin Flynn was sent off. Booked in the first half, Flynn was given a black card, swiftly followed by a red, after dragging Michael Murphy, the Donegal captain, to the turf.

Kildare’s only point of the first half arrived in the 24th minute when Neil Flynn popped over a free.

It was the only bright spot for the Lilywhites, who were 0-13 to 0-1 in arrears at the break.

Donegal played with the aid of a stiff wind in the first half with the hosts in complete control.

Bonner kept his seasoned campaigners in storage for the early part of the year and enabled the likes of Niall O’Donnell and Oisin Gallen to make an impression.

O’Donnell and Gallen both hit three excellent points in the first half as dominant Donegal set the tone.

Jamie Brennan popped Donegal in front in the second minute and the onslaught began.

Before the 20th minute had arrived, Donegal were nine to the good, captain Michael Murphy nailing two dead-ball attempts with Jason McGee – returning from a suspension – and Hugh McFadden on the mark.

A splendid O’Donnell point off his left foot put Donegal nine up after Flynn broke Kildare’s duck. Gallen and Daire Ó Baoill stretched the Tir Chonaill lead and Ryan McHugh became the eighth home player on the scoreboard just before the changeover.

Donegal spurned a golden chance to put the game firmly beyond Kildare’s reach when McGee screwed wide after being put through by Caolan McGonagle.

McGee, however, turned provider for Brennan to fire home and on a day when the hosts had nine different scorers, they kept a clean sheet as Shaun Patton thwarted Chris Healy late in the day.

Scorers for Donegal: O Gallen, M Murphy (2fs, 1 ’45) 0-4 each, J Brennan 1-1, N O’Donnell, R McHugh 0-3 each, J McGee 0-2, C McGonagle, H McFadden, D Ó Baoill 0-1 each

Scorers for Kildare: A Tyrell 0-4 (1f), P Brophy (1f), J Hyland 0-2 each, C O’Donoghue, N Flynn (f) 0-1 each

DONEGAL: Shaun Patton; Paddy McGrath, Brendan McCole, Stephen McMenamin; Daire Ó Baoill, Leo McLoone, Eoghan Ban Gallagher; Hugh McFadden, Jason McGee; Niall O’Donnell, Ryan McHugh, Caolan McGonagle; Oisin Gallen, Michael Murphy, Jamie Brennan.

Subs: Neil McGee for McCole (57), Eoin McHugh for Ó Baoill (61), Paul Brennan for Gallen (63), Frank McGlynn for McLoone (67), Caolan Ward for R.McHugh (68).

KILDARE: Mark Donnellan; David Hyland, Mick O’Grady, Kevin Flynn; Cian O’Donoghue, Eoin Doyle, Peter Kelly; Kevin Feely, Tommy Moolick; Fergal Conway, Paddy Brophy, Keith Cribbin; Neil Flynn, Chris Healy, Jimmy Hyland.

Subs: Adam Tyrell for Cribben (half-time), James Murray for Conway (48), Aaron Masterson for Flynn (53), Tony Archibald for Brophy (57), Mark Barrett for O’Donoghue (62).

REFEREE: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon).