A DECADE OF #SeriousSupport.

An incredible journey since the infamous Ladyball ad.

The Ladies Gaelic Football Association [LGFA] and Lidl Ireland today announced a four-year contract extension, bringing the successful partnership through to the conclusion of the 2025 season.

Lidl, the LGFA’s official retail partner since 2016, have pledged to invest an additional €5 million, bringing the total investment to €10 million across 10 years of sponsorship.

Today’s news came after the Association confirmed details of a comprehensive live-streaming platform yesterday, with over 100 live games that are not being shown live on TG4 available to watch through a subscription service.

A season ticket that covers all games in 2022 is €50, with a weekend pass €10 and a single game available for €5. There is also the option to buy single games after they have concluded for €3 each.  

These are two massive steps in two days for ladies football, with the game growing exponentially in recent years, on and off the field.

“It’s still growing,” Galway star Nicola Ward tells The42. “Each year you come back, Lidl are coming up with something new.

“Even if the games aren’t on TG4, you can watch the stream online. For video analysis and that for other teams, you can look back on everything. The double-headers; both Leinster finals being in Croke Park is massive. There’s just massive improvements each year and I suppose it will only continue to grow as well.”

Cáit Lynch of Kerry echoes the Kilkerrin-Clonberne All-Ireland winner’s words.

“It’s such an exciting time to be involved in ladies football at the moment,” the 2012 All-Star and recent returnee to the inter-county scene nods. “For so many decades really, we’ve been struggling and fighting for small wins.

A decade of #SeriousSupport as @lidl_ireland pledges commitment of €10 million investment in Ladies Football in 10 years of sponsorship

Lidl & LGFA announce 4-year partnership extension until 2025https://t.co/1ShMR2vLUs@ConnachtLGFA @LeinsterLGFA @MunsterLGFA @UlsterLadies

— Ladies Football (@LadiesFootball) February 8, 2022

“I know there’s still a load that we can do in the future, but it’s a really exciting time that we have the backing of Lidl.

“It’s great, there’s so much media coverage at the moment, even over Covid when games were being streamed… I think that was quite beneficial, it increased accessibility to games that people mightn’t have actually gone to. People now have it in their homes. It’s brilliant.”

As well as the investment of another €5 million, Lidl have committed to focusing on further progress in the areas of attendance and participation.

They say they will help fill Croke Park to full capacity at the TG4 All-Ireland finals by 2025 – the record attendance is 56,114 from 2019 – while plans are in place to increase participation and break the trend of drop-out rates among girls by investing in their already-profitable programmes.

“It’s safe to say it’s changed Ladies Gaelic football as a whole, even just the promotion,” Dublin ace Carla Rowe says of the Lidl partnership.

“I know there’s debate around the filling Croke Park, but the live-streaming and the posters and all that you are seeing are huge for young girls coming up through the sport, having role models.

“The support has been massive and it’s great to hear that they’re signing on for another four years. In total, you’re looking at 10 years’ support — and a lot of money and resources.”

Source: LadiesFootballTV/YouTube

Rowe, Ward and Lynch were all speaking at today’s league launch, with throw-in pencilled in for this weekend.

Meath All-Ireland champion Monica McGuirk and injured Tipperary and Donegal stars Aishling Moloney and Emer Gallagher were also in attendance, with some of the players heavily involved as Lidl ambassadors across several programmes.

Gallagher is one of such.

“We were just talking about it earlier on within the girls: even from Covid, how things have improved so much in terms of how visible the sport is and how visible the players are,” she beamed.

“Especially for young girls, they need to be able to see their role models and to see what they could be in the future. That really wasn’t possible four years ago, because it wasn’t really being broadcast anywhere. You couldn’t see a ladies game online, you would have to physically go to the game and that wasn’t always an option for a lot of young people.

“I honestly think the development that we’ve seen in the sport has been down to how much it’s been pushed, broadcast and publicised. You can tune into Facebook and watch any of the matches this year because they’re all being live-streamed. That’s night and day to where we were five years ago, not to mention 15 years ago.

“If things keep going the way that they’re going, who knows where our sport is going to reach?”

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IRELAND’S ELSA DESMOND says she “couldn’t be happier” after a brilliant display in the Women’s Singles Luge at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. 

Desmond finished her maiden Olympic Games with another clean run, completing her third run with a time of 1:02.254, which was her second fastest on the track.

Added to run one and two, Desmond finished her event in 33rd position with an overall time of 3:03.07.719.

The top twenty athletes from run three moved to the final round, meaning that Desmond’s third run was her final one. The Women’s Singles was won by Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger.

The 24-year-old Desmond, who is first Ireland’s first competitor at a Games in the luge, was relieved to end her competition with such a strong score.

“This is the second fastest time that I ever got here,” she said after her event, “there was definite issues between curve two and three. I’ve only ever got it right twice prior to this. It’s a section I haven’t got my head around and you get that sometimes.

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“But unlike yesterday’s second run I recovered it much quicker, and I managed to relax into the sled I didn’t manage to do in the second run yesterday.

“I had a couple of taps with my feet down, but it was nothing major. It was consistent with training but a little bit quicker. I’ll take it, I finished three runs, I couldn’t be happier.”

“I’ve dreamed of this as long as I can remember and I’m here and I did it and I didn’t do anything ridiculous and end up on my face. Why would I not be absolutely ecstatic? I know my parents are at home watching and wish they were here and will be so so proud. I can’t wait to talk to them, I know my mum will be in tears.”

Team Ireland will have two athletes in action tomorrow, with Tess Arbez competing in the Slalom, while Seamus O’Connor is set to become a three-time Olympian, competing in the Snowboard Halfpipe qualifying rounds.

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NEW CORK MANAGER Shane Ronayne has announced a 39-strong panel for the 2022 Lidl Ladies National Football League campaign.

The Rebels open their Division 1 tilt against All-Ireland champions Meath at Páirc Tailteann, Navan, on Saturday [throw-in 1.30pm], as the sides lock horns for the first time since their dramatic championship semi-final last year.

Ronayne’s panel shows a nice blend of youth and experience, with plenty of established regulars returning to the fold.

He has called up eight players from his Mourneabbey club side, with high-scoring forward Laura Fitzgerald, goalkeeper Maebh O’Sullivan — sister of Ciara and Doireann — and rising star Ellie Jack among the newer faces brought in from the county champions.

As confirmed last week, Máire O’Callaghan will captain the Leesiders for the season ahead, with Melissa Duggan named vice-captain.

Senior league panel 2022 announcement. Best of luck to all the girls and management! @SuperValuIRL @theGAAstore @BlackwaterMotor @spronayne pic.twitter.com/G4Lg8Cqr89

— Cork LGFA (@CorkLGFA) February 8, 2022

Claire O Shea listed twice in error. Panel also includes Marie Ambrose from @stvalsladies https://t.co/WcCXAMwxtX

— Ger McCarthy (@germccarthy74) February 8, 2022

The 2022 Lidl National Leagues are set to be launched in Newbridge this afternoon, with the LGFA confirming details of a comprehensive live-streaming service yesterday.

Over 100 live games that are not being shown live on TG4 will be made available at the LGFA’s dedicated live-streaming portal (https://page.inplayer.com/lgfaseason2022/ – further details are available to read there).

Fans can sign up for a season ticket that covers all games in 2022 for just €50; a weekend pass costs €10, while a single game is available for €5. There is also the option to buy single games after they have concluded for €3 each.  

Here are details of a comprehensive live-streaming service for the 2022 season, which will cover over 100 live games in the @lidl_ireland National Leagues, the @TG4TV All-Ireland Championships & the @currentacc_ie All-Ireland Club Championshipshttps://t.co/3j7vLEwHFH#LGFA

— Ladies Football (@LadiesFootball) February 7, 2022

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FEARGAL LOGAN SET the tone when he spoke to reporters in the aftermath of Tyrone’s six-point defeat to Armagh, which was marred by the sending off of five players. 

Four men dismissed – Michael McKernan, Padraig Hampsey, Peter Harte, and Kieran McGeary – were on the Tyrone side and Logan confirmed they’d be appealing the suspensions. 

The GAA will examine David Gough’s report before issuing suspensions to the the four Tyrone players and Armagh’s Greg McCabe. 

It’s expected Gough dismissed the players for contributing to a melee or dangerous play, both of which are Category III offences that carry a minimum two-game ban.

Back in May 2018 at a media briefing, referees development chairman Willie Barrett let it be known that officials were instructed at a pre-championship seminar to crack down on additional players becoming involved in scuffles.

“We’ve seen a number of games where a melee has occurred and we’ve asked our referees to deal with it very strongly,” said Barrett at the time. “Where there are two players involved, it’s fine, the referee can deal with it, but where more players come in and add to that, it then becomes a melee.

“What’s a melee? Making a bad situation worse. So, we feel that we need to deal with that and we’ve given clear instruction to referees that red cards must be issued in those situations where players are coming in and you’re eventually seeing five or six or seven players involved.

“We would be particularly honing in on the first and second person into the melee, shall we say, after two players have been involved. We believe that’s causing other players to come in. Likewise in hurling, if it’s left to the two players and the referees and officials, there’s generally no difficulty.”

However, the unsightly melees have continued since then and referees rarely dealt with them as strongly as Gough did.

These days, melees can occur for a wide variety of reasons. Some teams use them tactically: to slow the game down, to distract the referee or to draw his attention to an incident they feel must be dealt with. 

The all-in brawl at the end of the clash in the Athletic Grounds on Sunday wasn’t a good look for the GAA.

The actions taken by Gough were unusual in that he stood back, looked out for the players that made “a bad situation worse”, to use Barrett’s phrase, and followed the rulebook to the letter in dismissing five players. 

It’s no surprise to hear Tyrone are appealing the red cards. Kieran McGeeney’s post-match comments strongly suggest Armagh will follow suit. 

“Talking to Greg there, he feels hard done by,” said McGeeney.

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“When you have a bit schemozzle like that there, it’s really hard to see. I’m sure everybody’s going to be looking at videos tonight and there’s going to be solicitors all over the place.”

Four Tyrone players are shown a red card for their involvement in a brawl.

Source: Philip Magowan/INPHO

The appeals process in the GAA is farcical. Suspensions are overturned on technicalities as lawyers find loopholes in the rulebook. Players who know themselves they’re guilty of an offence routinely escape punishment. It has long become a nationwide trend.

A system implemented by amateurs that’s challenged by legal professionals is fundamentally flawed.

A tweet from Eamon McGee in 2015 summed the flawed disciplinary system up: “Lost my appeal to the red card I got in club game. Irony: any appeal I’ve won in the past I was as guilty as sin. The one time I’m innocent, I lose.”

Following the infamous Battle of Omagh in 2006, when two major melees broke out in a league game between Tyrone and Dublin, four players were sent-off and nine were subsequently issues with suspensions. In the end, only the ban for Tyrone’s Collie Holmes stuck as both counties exploited ambiguity in the laws. 

The GAA’s high volume of successful appeals must supersede any other sport in the world.

If Croke Park are serious on stamping out melees, then they need to back Gough’s decision when the inevitable appeals come from both counties. 

It could be argued that Hampsey and, to a lesser extent, McKernan appeared unlucky to receive straight reds. But if the Association does not enforce a number of suspensions, it will essentially send out the message that Gough’s decision to take strong action was wrong.

It will tell club and county players that mass brawls are still part of the game. 

As the number of referees decline to worrying levels across the country, failing to back Gough could have unwanted repercussions for officiating. 

“I’ve actually seen situations in club games in Kerry where referees have made calls (to send players off),” said Marc Ó Sé on The42 GAA Weekly. 

“Obviously a lot of club teams video their games. They’ve appealed, sent them into the CCCC and they’ve got off. What it’s done is it has disillusioned a lot of referees who are saying, ‘What’s the point?’ I know one or two referees in fact who’ve decided not to referee anymore. 

“By taking the decision away from them, maybe they feel they’re losing integrity in some way. It will be a huge thing to see what the GAA are going to do.

“There will be appeals, Tyrone are certainly going to appeal. It will be very interesting over the next few days to see what’s going to happen there.”

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Updated Mon 7:35 PM

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– Updated with third-level GAA live-streaming midweek info

GAA FANS ARE set for a huge weekend of TV and livestream coverage next weekend with eight games set to be covered.

It’s Round 2 of the hurling with Saturday’s matches featuring Antrim hosting Dublin and All-Ireland champions Limerick welcome Henry Shefflin’s Galway to the Gaelic Grounds.

Croke Park hosts the best club sides in the country as the All-Ireland senior finals taking place on Saturday with a Kilkenny (Ballyhale) against Waterford (Ballygunner) final in store for the hurling, while Down’s Kilcoo and Dublin’s Kilmacud Crokes meet in the football decider.

The ladies football league commences with Round 1 and there’s a Saturday night Division 1 fixture as Donegal face Galway live on TG4.

Then on Sunday it’s all hurling action with Clare, Wexford, Cork, Offaly, Kilkenny and Tipperary all being covered.

There is also set to be colleges action live-streamed midweek with the Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-finals and Sigerson Cup semi-finals down for decision, four of those games are being covered.

Here’s what’s in store:

Tuesday

• 7pm: HE GAA Facebook/YouTube – IT Carlow v UCC – Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-final.

Wednesday

• 7pm: HE GAA Facebook/YouTube – NUI Galway v Waterford IT – Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-final.

Thursday

• 6pm: Electric Ireland YouTube – NUI Galway v MTU Kerry – Sigerson Cup semi-final.
• 7.30pm: Electric Ireland YouTube – DCU v UL – Sigerson Cup semi-final.

Saturday

• 2pm: BBC IPlayer and GAA Go – Antrim v Dublin – Division 1 hurling league.

• 3pm: TG4 – Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilkenny) v Ballygunner (Waterford) – All-Ireland senior club hurling final.

• 5pm: TG4 – Kilcoo (Down) v Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) – All-Ireland senior club football final.

• 7pm: RTÉ 2 – Limerick v Galway – Division 1 hurling league.

• 7.30pm: TG4 – Donegal v Galway – Division 1 ladies football league.

Sunday

• 1.45pm: TG4 – Clare v Wexford – Division 1 hurling league.

• 2pm: TG4 app – Offaly v Cork – Division 1 hurling league… (deferred coverage at 5.30pm on TG4)

• 3.45pm: TG4 – Tipp v Kilkenny – Division 1 hurling league.

• 9.30pm: RTÉ 2 – Allianz League Sunday GAA highlights.

STEELSTOWN BRIAN ÓGS were crowned All-Ireland intermediate champions yesterday, the Derry club etching their names into history in Croke Park.

They became the first Derry side to lift the intermediate title, and the first Derry city club to win an All-Ireland after triumphing against Trim of Meath on a scoreline of 3-14 to 2-5. (Three clubs from the south of the county have won senior titles before in Bellaghy 1972, Lavey 1991 and Ballinderry 2002.)

Founded as recently as 1987, captain Neil Forester gave the full background of Steelstown Brian Ógs in a simply superb acceptance speech.

Full of passion and emotion, Foreseter also referenced tragedies that have impacted the club through the years,

Brian Óg McKeever died in 2009 at the age of 17, after a battle with leukaemia. He had captained underage teams at the club and was also a Derry minor player. Steelstown changed their name thereafter, and retired the number five jersey in his honour. 

Charlene Griffiths was another huge club figure, who passed away three years later.

For those who missed it, or those who want to watch it again and again – Neil Forester's winning speech. That'll ring out for years to come. https://t.co/1nVzbJ5pHK pic.twitter.com/CzejrstbR5

— Orlagh Mullan (@OrlaghMullan) February 7, 2022

Neil Forrester’s speech in full:

“To Croke Park, the GAA, AIB, this is an incredible competition. It really is the crown jewel in the GAA calendar because you can see how much it means to the parishes and communities of Ireland.

“We’re a young club. We were founded by Anthony McGurk, Mickey Doherty, Philip Devlin. They were told there was no Gaelic football in the city, but they did not listen. They planted the acorn, it was nurtured by people like Brid Kelly-McElroy, Andy Barr Senior. They were told there was no Gaelic football in Derry city, they did not listen. To you, our coaches, administrators, parents, you nurtured us more. The oak tree grew. Gaelic football is alive in Derry City.

“It hasn’t been easy. We’ve faced serious adversity. We’ve never won a league or a championship on our men’s team, now we have three. Adversity wasn’t just on the pitch, it was off it. We lost people that we loved; people like Charlene, people like Brian Óg McKeever. He’s the true captain of this club, it should be him climbing these steps, he’s the captain’s captain. It wasn’t to be, so instead, we named our club after him. Even though he was only 17 years old, that’s the type of man that he was.

“Tonight, everybody will know his name and our club’s name, because Derry city belongs to Steelstown Brian Ógs.”

• You can read more abut the club in this excellent piece by Cahair O’Kane for The Irish News.

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IT TOOK DUBLIN rising star Kate Sullivan all but 10 seconds to find the back of the net in yesterday’s currentaccount.ie All-Ireland intermediate club final.

Her goal, straight off the throw-in, paved the way for glory for St Sylvester’s, as the Malahide outfit won their first All-Ireland crown at this grade.

With Sullivan’s Sky Blue team-mates Sinéad Aherne and Nicole Owens among others central to the victory, Syls finished 1-6 to 0-7 winners over Castlebar Mitchels of Mayo.

22-year-old Sullivan has been a member of Mick Bohan’s Dublin senior panel over the past few seasons and has made her impact felt when called upon.

A classy forward with a bright future ahead, Sullivan is destined to play a big part as the county look to bounce back from last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Meath.

Source: LadiesFootballTV/YouTube

But yesterday, it was all about Syls, with manager Anthony Cooke hailing her heroics in the aftermath.

“Kate’s been brilliant all season,” Cooke said following the two-point win at Duggan Park in Ballinasloe.

“Hopefully, we’ll see a lot of her in the Dublin jersey this season, she’s been in and out of the team the last few years. Since she’s come back into the club this year she’s just been phenomenal.

“Her pace is something else but she has that finishing quality as well. To be honest, it [the goal] wasn’t something we’d worked on but Kate obviously won that throw.”

Castlebar Mitchels boss Fintan Keane, meanwhile, said he was “extremely proud” of his side’s effort in their first All-Ireland intermediate final, though the narrow loss is “heartbreaking”.

While Kilkerrin-Clonberne landed the senior crown last week, St Judes kickstarted a Dublin double with their All-Ireland junior title win on Saturday.

A 3-9 to 1-8 victory over Mullinahone of Tipperary saw them join fellow capital outfits Foxrock-Cabinteely, Thomas Davis and St Maurs on the roll of honour.

Dual star Hannah Hegarty was named Player of the Match after another towering display.

Source: Matt Browne/SPORTSFILE

Waterford star Caoimhe McGrath, captain Aoife Keyes and Aisling Gannon scored the goals in Balltinglass, with manager Jeff Kane in a celebratory mood afterwards.

“We started the club in 1978,” the Judes boss beamed. “We’ve challenged in senior championships in football and hurling and we’ve a really successful camogie set up. This is heaven, it’s absolute heaven.

“I’m with the guys four years now. We’ve been through ups and downs, lost a championship final to a really good Ballinteer St John’s team last year. We made a promise to ourselves that we wouldn’t leave anything out there anymore.

“Came together as a unit and we’re All-Ireland champions.”

Mullinahone manager Paul Kelly said his side were “naturally disappointed” after battling all the way, though the border club can take immense pride from their entire year.

“We came across a very good Judes side,” he conceded. “We knew coming here today that we were going to be up against it, given the population of St Judes GAA club in general, plus they have inter-county footballers like Caoimhe McGrath from Waterford.

“At the end of the day, we’re a small rural club and we got six players from Windgap. We always knew it was going to be a tough battle.”

– with reporting from Darren Kelly for the LGFA.

MATTIE KENNY AND Liam Cahill had no complaints after yesterday’s Allianz Hurling League clash between Dublin and Waterford that saw 18 cards handed out, including two reds and blacks. 

The thrilling draw in Parnell Park wasn’t a particularly bad-tempered affair, although several scuffles did break out and Antrim whistler Colm Cunning was quick to punish those involved. 

He set the tone in the first-half when he booked six players, three from either side, for altercations. In the second period Cian O’Callaghan (black and a yellow) and Conor Prunty (two yellows) were sent-off late on.

Neither Kenny nor Cahill felt it was the sort of game that warranted so many cards, but they stopped short of criticising the referee.

“I was very surprised by that,” said Cahill of the card count. “It’s February hurling and the league is going to be more condensed this year, more than ever with the short run into championship.

“Everybody is trying to get as much as they can out of it. Difficult day to hurl but also a difficult day to referee as well to be fair. A very difficult day to referee with the intensity that was in the game.

“That was a hard-hitting game. It mightn’t have been an all-out skilful game but it was definitely very physical. There was a lot of big hits going on and a lot of well-conditioned men on the field.”

Kenny admitted “didn’t think it was” a niggly game that deserved so many cards.

He continued, “There was a lot of rucks in it. You had both sides very committed. When the ball was getting stuck in the pitch like that, a lot of guys are going to get in around it. They’re using their strength and weight.

“There were a few yellow cards handed out. There was nothing nasty in the game. It was just too very competitive sides going hard at it. Fair play to both sets of players.”

The black card has been introduced to hurling for the 2022 season for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity inside the 20m line or the D with a penalty also awarded. A sin-binning could previously be applied with a yellow card, but the black card has come into play this season.

A further amendment will be voted at Congress this month which proposed that fouls less than 25m infield of each sideline “as a ‘rule of thumb” would not count as a goalscoring opportunity. 

Waterford were the beneficiaries of the ruling on two occasions, as Cian O’Callaghan took down Colin Dunford with a heavy hit as he bore down on goal.

It was exactly the reason the rule was brought in, and Stephen Bennett duly dispatched the penalty. O’Callaghan was sent to the sideline for ten minutes.

Dublin goalkeeper Sean Brennan also spent ten minutes in the sin-bin. Again, it was deserved after he took down Jack Prendergast who would have scored had he not been denied fouled by the Sky Blues netminder.

Kenny was pleased with how Dublin reacted to bing down to 14 men for over 20 minutes. 

“A lot went on in that game we suffered two black cards and red cards in the finish. We had the wind in the fist half so we’d have liked to build up a bigger lead than we had.

“When they got the first penalty it gave them some momentum or stopped our momentum. We had to fight for that back in the first-half.

“We took a four point lead into half-time. Probably not enough in these conditions but our lads showed massive character in the second-half. When things seemed to be going against them they stayed in the game, keeping coming up the field against wind and got some vital scores which got us a draw in the end. It was a fair result for both sides.”

In the fourth year of Kenny’s reign, the Sky Blues have made an unbeaten start to the season after winning the Walsh Cup.

“I felt myself in the Walsh Cup, I thought the standard and speed of hurling was higher than normal. Usually the Walsh Cup is very slow and lads are trying to find their feet.

“The weather in January was really good and the quality and speed of hurling was really high. That came into the league today as well. Even though the conditions were tough it was really competitive. I thought the standard was pretty high for the conditions on the pitch.”

Daire Gray was a late cry-off from the team after tweaking his hamstring in the warm-up, while Cian O’Sullivan, Cian Boland, Mark Schutte, Shane Barrett and Liam Rushe are also out injured. 

Cahill said Jamie Barron and Tadhg de Burca are carrying muscle strains and are unlikely to return for Waterford’s home tie against Laois next weekend. 

“The most pleasing aspect for me is the continuous fight and resolve of these players to improve every day and to never take a step back,” Cahill said.

:Today it was a game that could have gone away from them and they stayed fighting until the end. That’s the main ingredient for me every day they go out. I know there was to be more to it than that and there will be but you can’t have the rest unless you have that. 

“We have Fitzgibbon Cup were we have to see how fellas come out of that on Tuesday. So a lot of that, bit of managing involve but looking forward to the next couple of matches in the league.”

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GOALS FROM PATRICK McBrearty and Ryan McHugh helped Donegal to victory over Kildare in Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, while Derry were emphatic winners against Offaly in Division 2.

Star forward Michael Murphy was withdrawn due to injury in the first half of their outing in Ballybofey, but Declan Bonner’s side recovered from his absence to ensure a 2-11 to 1-9 win.

Kildare were leading by 1-3 to 0-5 at that point, with the goal coming from Jimmy Hyland. 

But Donegal produced a strong response as Michael Langan and McBrearty combined for 1-1 to push their side into a three-point lead.

Kildare’s Paddy Woodgate and McHugh then traded points before McHugh extended Donegal’s advantage with their second goal just before half-time.

Kildare made the brighter start to the second half, grabbing three unanswered points to reduce the gap to three.

But a Conor O’Donnell point halted their momentum and kept Donegal’s noses in front as they held on for the victory.

Meanwhile in Division 2, Derry stormed to their second win of the league with a 2-13 to 0-7 victory over Offaly.

Shane McGuigan top-scored for the winners with 1-6, while Niall Loughlin chipped in with 1-2 as John Maughan’s side suffered a second consecutive defeat.

The visitors were 10 points clear at the break, thanks to Loughlin’s goal while Offaly struggled against the wind and had just two points on the board.

Bill Carroll hit Offaly’s third point in the early stages of the second half. Carroll was on target again shortly after while Dylan Hyland also found his range for Offaly to cut the deficit to 1-11 to 0-5.

But they were unable to close the gap any further as McGuigan struck for Derry’s second goal just before full-time.

Allianz Football League Results

Division 1

Donegal 2-11 Kildare 1-9

Division 2

Offaly 0-7 Derry 2-13

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