Celbridge in need of an upset against Naas while Éire Óg Corra Choill could book place in the knockout stages
Sean O'Neill was in fine form last time out for Éire Óg Corra Choill Photo: Sean Brilly
The Senior A hurling championship continues with Round 2 taking place this weekend. RICHARD COMMINS looks ahead to the four games down for decision.
GROUP A
CELBRIDGE v NAAS (Friday 7.45pm, Manguard Park Pitch 1)
CONFEY v ÉIRE ÓG CORRA CHOILL (Saturday 5pm, Cedral St Conleth’s Park)
Naas remain overwhelming favourites to retain their county title for a seventh successive year, which would edge them closer to the record nine in succession won by Clane between 1903 and 1911. In more modern times Éire Óg won eight in nine years from 1964 to 1972 and the team who interrupted that run, 1968 winners Ardclough, won eight in eleven years from 1973 to 1983.
The county champions were in devastating form in handing Confey a 35-point lesson in the opening round of the group stages two weeks ago, with Joe McDonagh winning stars Jack Sheridan (with 2-5) and Cian Boran prominent and their hunger for title number seven was illustrated by Brian Byrne coming off the bench less than 24 hours after playing a starring role in the Tailteann Cup Final, scoring three points to boot.
Naas play Celbridge in a repeat of the 2021 final on Friday night in Manguard Park. Their opponents seemed to be in decent shape at half-time in their group opener against Éire Óg Corra Choill with the sides level at 1-10 apiece but the Hazelhatch men were outscored nine points to two in the first twenty minutes after the break and despite the fine form of county panel member James Dolan, they couldn’t claw back the lead, losing out by 1-21 to 1-14.
Another defeat at the weekend would leave them at risk of losing out on a knockout spot for the second year in a row, but it is hard to see them becoming the first team since Ardclough in the 2018 semi-final to lower the Naas colours.
Conquerors of Celbridge a fortnight ago, Éire Óg Corra Choill will fancy their chances of clinching their place in the knock-out stages when they face Confey in Newbridge on Saturday evening. Having beaten Ardclough on penalties after extra time in a preliminary round thriller they really hit their straps two weeks ago.
Former Kildare underage starlet Liam Dempsey is in good scoring form, backed up by Seán O’Neill and Jack Higgins while veteran goalkeeper Paul Dermody has been resilient at the other end. Confey struggled before coming good against Moorefield, with Frank Bass and Paul Divilly leading the way, but they will have taken little from another 30-point plus hammering by Naas, their third in the last year. ÉÓCC look like firm favourites for this one leaving Confey and Celbridge to battle it out for the final knock-out place from Group A.
GROUP B
COILL DUBH v MOOREFIELD (Friday 7.30pm, Manguard Park Pitch 2)
ARDCLOUGH v MAYNOOTH (Saturday 3.15pm, Cedral St Conleth’s Park)
Coill Dubh were convincing eight-point winners over Ardclough in the opening round robin game, and they have an opportunity to frank their position in the top two when they meet rank outsiders Moorefield on Friday night.
That would represent a big improvement on last year when Coill Dubh struggled to avoid relegation and with a clutch of their veterans having stepped away from the county set-up this year, it is clear they are focused on a strong club championship campaign. Declan Flaherty (1-3) and Johnny Byrne (1-4) were among the scores against Ardclough and Moorefield, the Senior B runners-up to Naas’ second team last year, will struggle to contain those two and Enda Keane, who also weighed in with 1-3 the last day.
Moores were only four-point adrift of Confey in the Preliminary Round but found Maynooth far too hot to handle in the opening group game, finishing on the wrong side of a twenty-point margin despite the best efforts of Reece Gavin and Seán Maher in particular. They may get closer against Coill Dubh, but the 2023 finalists should claim the two points en route to a likely spot in the knockout stages.
Maynooth face Ardclough in the other Group B game and Ardclough need to win that to keep their play-off chances alive. Lose and their final game against Moorefield will effectively be a relegation play-off. Maynooth, though, have David Qualter continuing his Joe McDonagh Cup form. He registered 2-10 against Moorefield and although Maynooth have been missing Cathal McCabe and Daniel O’Meara through injury and travel respectively, they’ll be favourites to clinch another two points on Saturday afternoon.
