Kevin Feely’s last-gasp pointed mark saw Kildare defeat Roscommon 1-16 to 1-15 in All-Ireland SFC group three at O’Connor Park, Tullamore.
The Rossies have finished third in the group table and must settle for an away preliminary quarter-final tie.
Roscommon started badly but still fashioned a two-point lead by half-time. A superior second-half display saw the Lilywhites emerge victorious.
Cian McKeon broke the deadlock two minutes in before three successive points saw Kildare lead 0-3 to 0-1 on nine minutes.
Three minutes later, a sublime move culminated in a goal by Alex Beirne as Kildare opened up a five-point gap.
Darragh Kirwan and Kevin Flynn combined to set up the Kildare wing-forward who’s first-time volleyed effort found the net.
On 21 minutes Kildare were down to 13 men for roughly ten minutes. Ryan Houlihan was shown a black card, four minutes after Beirne was in the same position.
Their temporary absences clearly had an impact as Glenn Ryan’s men failed to score for the remainder of the half.
The Rossies drew level on 28 minutes courtesy of a goal by Enda Smith goal. Diarmuid Murtagh dispossessed Eoin Doyle and brilliantly fed Smith who fired past Mark Donnellan from 14 metres out.
Points from Dylan Ruane and McKeon saw Roscommon lead 1-6 to 1-4 at half-time.
Neil Flynn opened Kildare’s second-half account two minutes after the restart. The Rossies restored their two-point cushion on three further occasions, each time Kildare halved the deficit.
Big Finish
Enda Smith restored Roscommon’s two-point buffer again on 46 minutes before four successive points saw Kildare lead by the same margin eight minutes later.
Smith broke Kildare’s momentum on 56 minutes and four minutes later, Ben O’Carroll edged the Rossies back in front.
The sides were level on three further occasions thereafter before Feely held his nerve to land the winning point right at the death.
Final standings
The Lilywhites accumulated the same number of points as the Rossies but Kildare claimed second place based on a superior head-to-head record.
Both sides are headed for the preliminary quarter-finals. Dublin have topped the table and qualified directly for the quarter-finals.
Dessie Farrell’s men scored a comprehensive win over Sligo winning 3-23 to 0-8 at Kingspan Breffni.
