Carlow made history in Tullamore this afternoon when inflicting a 2-14 to 1-10 quarter-final defeat on Kildare.

This is Carlow's first provincial championship victory over their neighbours since 1953 and it is all the more remarkable considering that they operated in Division Four during the Spring while Cian O'Neill's men were in the top flight of the league.

The result means Carlow will now square up to arch rivals Laois in a repeat of the Division Four final to see which of them advances to the 2018 Leinster SFC final. Kildare were bidding for an eighth successive semi-final appearance, while Carlow haven't been in the last four since 2011.

The Barrowsiders bossed the first half to deserved lead by 1-8 to 1-3 at the interval, Darragh Foley flicking to the Kildare net in the tenth minute. Four minutes earlier, Daniel Flynn had netted to hand the Lilywhites a 1-1 to 0-3 advantage.

Paul Broderick - scorer of eleven points! - and Foley had slotted the first two scores of the game for the underdogs and goalkeeper Robbie Molloy made a telling contribution when saving a 16^th-minute Eanna O'Connor penalty, with the winners narrowly ahead at that stage, 1-3 to 1-2.

After an exchange between Sean Gannon and Keith Cribbin, Carlow knocked over four unanswered points in the last 15 minutes of the opening period to grab a five-point advantage, Broderick nailing the final three points before the break.

Broderick also arrowed over the first score after the resumption and Kevin Flynn registered Kildare's first score in 19 minutes before Ciaran Moran restored Carlow's six-point advantage. Despite a brief Kildare flurry, Broderick pointed 20 minutes from the break to make it 1-11 to 1-6.

Kevin Feely's point meant Kildare were within four at the three-quarters stage but Broderick's ninth of the day assured Turlough O'Brien's men of a 1-12 to 1-7 advantage with 13 minutes gone. With their provincial championship hopes on the line, Kildare had points from Feely and Flynn before Paul Cribbin's point ensured that the losers were within three with as many minutes left.

Broderick's eleventh provided the insurance point in injury time. Kildare needed a goal but it was the Division Four finalists who pounced for their second three-pointer as Conor Lawlor netted in stoppage time to put the icing on the cake of a famous win.

Carlow have a massive game ahead of them on June 10^th, while Kildare will be in action the previous night - they go into Sunday morning's first-round Qualifier draw after losing their 12^th consecutive competitive game.

Carlow - R Molloy; C Crowley, S Redmond, Conor Lawlor (1-0); J Morrissey, D St Ledger (1-0), C Moran (0-1); S Murphy, E Ruth; S Gannon (0-1), D Foley (0-1), D Walshe; P Broderick (0-11, 9f), D O'Brien, J Murphy. Subs: D Moran for C Crowley, Cian Lawlor for D Walshe, L Walker for D O'Brien, B J Molloy for D Foley.

Kildare - M Donnellan; P Kelly, D Hyland, M O'Grady; J Byrne, E Doyle, K Flynn (0-2); K Feely (0-3f), P Cribbin (0-3); F Conway, K Cribbin (0-1), P Brophy; E O'Connor, D Flynn (1-1), N Kelly. Subs: C Healy for E O'Connor, D Slattery for K Cribbin, T Moolick for P Brophy, E Callaghan for N Kelly.

Referee - C Reilly.

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