Kildare and Offaly will battle it out in the Allianz Football League Division 3 final at Croke Park in six days’ time following the conclusion of the third tier’s round games this afternoon.

The Lilywhites cruised towards promotion thanks to a 1-26 to 1-15 victory over Antrim in Newbridge, which is a result that sees the Saffrons relegated to Division 4 for 2026.

The home side had trailed by 0-14 to 0-9 at the halfway stage, but Niall Kelly’s goal eight minutes into the second-half sprung them into life and they’d move into the lead through Kelly’s point eight minutes later and never relinquish it.

Fionn Nagle’s goal with seven minutes to go gave Andy McEntee’s men hope but the scores of Darragh Kirwan, Alex Beirne and Brian McLoughlin sent Kildare on their way to an 11-point win as well as an immediate return to Division 2.

#AllianzLeagues Football Division 3 Table after Round 7.

Fermanagh 1-18 v 2-13 Laois
Clare 2-14 v 2-09 Offaly
Sligo 0-32 v 0-10 Leitrim
Kildare 1-26 v 1-15 Antrim

⬆️ Kildare and Offaly
⬇️ Antrim and Leitrim#GAA #Football #Antrim #Clare #Fermanagh #Kildare #Laois… pic.twitter.com/BVrISnj2vP

— GAA League Tables (@GAALeagueTables) March 23, 2025

Offaly will be joining their neighbours in the second tier next season despite falling to a 2-14 to 2-9 defeat at the hands of Clare in Ennis this afternoon.

The goals of John Furlong and Cathal Flynn helped the visitors lead by 2-5 to 0-6 at half-time ahead of Keelan Sexton (2) and Cillian Rouine sending over early scores in the restart for the Banner men.

Peter Keane’s side would hit the jackpot with an Aaron Griffin goal in the closing minutes ahead of the same player repeating the trick in the dying stages to cement the victory.

However, with Kildare, Offaly and Clare all finishing on 10 points in the table, the head-to-head rule does not come into effect between three teams and therefore has saw the Munster side missing out on promotion as a result of their inferior score difference.

Elsewhere, Sligo secured their Division 3 status for next season by blowing away struggling neighbours Leitrim on a 0-32 to 0-10 scoreline at Markievicz Park, while Fermanagh recorded their fourth win of the campaign after edging out Laois by 1-18 to 2-13 in Enniskillen.

We caught up with Kildare midfielder Callum Bolton after he starred in this afternoon's victory over Antrim that sealed promotion to Division 2 next year.@SashGAA pic.twitter.com/FBtU9KC0RL

— Kildare GAA (@KildareGAA) March 23, 2025

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