kildarepost 75
TUESDAY 06 OCTOBER 2015 MINOR A HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
NAAS 0-13 CELBRIDGE 0-9
Naas hold their nerve to stave off Celbridge fightback Patrick Ward reporter
For periods of this game it looked like Naas would easily walk to their second county title of the afternoon as they played some sumptuous hurling for periods but a determined Celbridge outfit made them sweat until the end. Naas were worthy winners in the end, but had Celbridge played like they did for the final 15 minutes of this encounter the outcome of this game could have been much different. It was between the fifth minute of this tie right up until half-time that Naas did the damage, with Jack Sheridan inflicting most of that. Celbridge started better, with points from Sean Lawlor and Patrick Mortell giving them a two point advantage, but this was as good as it got for the north Kildare outfit in the first half. Jack Sheridan got things underway for Naas, as they eventually troubled the scoreboard in the 18th minute, and Shane Ryan quickly followed up with a fine score after picking the pocket of a Celbridge defender and running through on goal. Alex Maher and Sheridan followed up with scores from play and Naas were looking in a
commanding position. Ryan and Sheridan raised further white flags for Naas, with Sheridan's point being particularly impressive. Matthew Moran added another socre and Sheridan finished out the half's scoring with two further frees to bring his own personal tally to six points and leave the scoreboard reading 0-9 to 0-2 at half-time. Celbridge came out fighting in the second half though, but Naas were composed in the opening 10 minutes, which proved vital. Sean O'Sullivan and Sheridan swapped scores before Aaron Doran cut the deficit to six for Celbridge. Conor Foley then stroked over a couple of scores for Naas, the first of which was a peach from the right wing, and that seemed to dampen the Celbridge spirits somewhat. Sean Lawlor and Sheridan swapped points from frees, but that Sheridan score proved to be Naas' last point. Celbridge rallied and they hit four points in a row with Ciaran O'Regan and Doran knocking over scores either side of a couple of Patrick Mortell efforts. It was not to be enough however, as Naas managed to hold their nerve and see out a game that they
never looked like losing. It crowned a perfect day for the young men of the town, as their seconds side captured the Minor B title earlier that afternoon. Scorers for Naas: J Sheridan 0-7(5f), S Ryan and C Foley(1f) 0-2 each, M Moran 0-1. Scorers for Celbridge: P Mortell
Patrick Ward reporter
Naas minors' second side started off a great day for the club when they overcame Naomh Dara by a five point margin in St Conleth's Park on Saturday afternoon. It took them quite a while to get going initially, as Naomh Dara held the advantage at the break with the scores at 1-3 to 0-3, but Naas settled to the task well in the second half and put in a clinical performance to squeeze the life out of their opponents. In truth, it was the inspired decision to move goalkeeper James Burke into the half-forward line for the second half that turned the game on its head, as he scored six points that really decided the outcome of the tie. The lively Sean Mc Donncha got matters underway in the fifth minute when he tapped over a scored from close range, but that was quickly cancelled out by a free from Cian
White. The game entered a bit of a lull then, and there was no score for eight minutes until Ryan Boran won a puc out and split the posts from 50 metres out. Naomh Dara took the ascendancy then however, and scored 1-2 without reply over the next ten minutes. Óisin Devereux whacked over a massive long range free, before he rifled a 20 metre free into the top corner of the net after full-forward James Murphy had been hauled to the ground. When Michael Mc Brearty added to the Naomh Dara lead they seemed to be on the crest of a wave, but they never kicked on from there. Mc Donncha added a score for Naas before the interval, to ensure there would be just three between the sides at the break. The second half saw the introduction of Burke to the Naas attack, and that kick-started their assault towards the title. It was Burke who registered the first point of the new
NAAS 1-11 NAOMH DARA 2-3
period, with a simple free before Burke ensured Naas would never be C White; M Mc Brearty, S Nolan, K Cian Mulligan raised another white caught. Dunne; P Baker, J Murphy, J Millett. flag with a superb effort from a tight Scorers for Naas: J Burke 0-5(2f, Subs used: F Talbot and L Byrne. angle. Burke levelled the game with a 2'65), C Mulligan 0-3, J Mc Keown 1-0, Naas : J Burke; A Murphy, B Blackscore from a '65 and Mulligan eventu- S Mc Donncha 0-2, R Boran 0-1. burne, D Herley; P Mc Keown, R ally pushed Naas ahead with another Scorers for Naomh Dara: O De- Boran, J Mc Keown; D Shaw, K tidy score from out on the left. vereux 1-1(1-0f, 1f), F Talbot 1-0, C Aherne; C Tobin, S Mc Donncha, The killer blow then came for White and M Mc Brearty 0-1 each. S Maher; C Mulligan, C Kelleher, S Naomh Dara, when James Mc Keown Naomh Dara: J Cuthbert; J Lavin, Byrne. punted a hopeful ball towards goal C Byrne, A Duff; M Doran, P BerSubs used: D Perkins, J Pickles, H that evaded everyone and then mingham, C Mc Cabe; O Devereux, Carroll. trickled into the net. It seemed to kill the Naomh Dara spirits and two further points from Burke widened the gap to leave the trailing side with a sizeable mountain to climb. They managed to give themselves hope late on though, when Paddy Bermingham flighted a long ball into the area that took a touch from the hurl of Fionn Talbot and ended up in the net. There was only three between the sides with five minutes to play, but another point each from Mulligan and n Naas players celebrate their Minor B Championship win Photo: Pat Tinsley
AND THEY’RE OFF!
14th & 15th October
Doyle. Celbridge: N Reynor; C O'Hogain, C Byrne, P Hogan; A O'Riain, P Mortell, K Gorman; S O'Sullivan, A Doran; C O'Regan, S Lawlor, C O'Shaugnessy; C O'Foghlu, D Kilgallon, A Brennan. Subs used: T Mc Auliffe, R Clarke, S Mc Goldrick and L O'Flynn.
n The Naas squad celebrate their Minor A Championship victory. Photo: Pat Tinsley
MINOR B HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Versatile Burke leads Naas to Minor B title
0-3(2f, 1'65), S Lawlor(1f) and A Doran 0-2 each, S O'Sullivan and C O'Regan(1f) 0-1 each. Naas: J Keane; E Tobin, C Dowling, S Lacey; E Nolan, D Greene, C Dowling; M Drewitt, J Sheridan; A Maher, C Lynch, M Moran; S Ryan, C Foley, P O'Brien. Subs used: J Mc Carthy and C
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