Kildare needed extra time to see off the challenge of Offaly by 3-09 to 1-14 in their Leinster football semi-final replay at Nolan Park this evening.
Offaly produced the better football for much of the opening half but goals from Eddie McCormack, Ronan Sweeney and Dermot Earley kept Kildare in front. Disaster struck for Offaly in the 23rd minute when James Grennan was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Ciaran McManus scored a penalty for Offaly shortly after the restart to level the match. The game surprisingly remained scoreless for the last eighteen minutes and headed into extra time.
Kildare came to the fore during this extra period and probable deserved to win through in a very entertaining match.
At Mullingar Fermanagh stunned the homeside Westmeath to run out 0-7 to 0-14 winners in their SFC second round qualifier. The men from the Erne county handled the difficult windy conditions better and led 0-2 to 0-9 at half time.
Although Westmeath rallied in the second period Fermangh defended well and added further scores to make sure of victory.
The SFC second round qualifier between Leitrim and Tyrone was abandoned after ten minutes due to inclement weather. The score at the time was Leitrim 1-0 Tyrone 0-1
In the other qualifier played tonight Laois ran out 1-19 to 1-06 winners over Clare at Portlaoise.