Cummins and Kennedy lead the way for Naas

Hanlon Concrete LTD Senior Football League Division 1 Round 4

Naas 4-12 Sallins 1-12

Naas got back to winning ways on a cold and cloudy Thursday evening under the home floodlights as they saw off Sallins to secure their second win of the Senior Football League. Lee Kennedy’s hat-trick of goals was the difference between the teams at half-time, and that advantage was successfully defended as Kevin Cummins finished with 1-7 against a Sallins team who battled until the very end.

Sallins got off to a great start. The first two-pointer came when the match was only three minutes young when Cian Grimes sent the ball sailing outside the arc, and Stephen Kelly gratefully received David Morrissey’s miscued kick-out to point moments later. Three minutes later, Elliot Beirne ensured the hosts were up and running. In the seventh minute, a slick hand-passing move made its way to Lee Kennedy who palmed the ball past Ryan Herbert for his first goal.

It took twelve minutes for the next score to arrive, when James Dalton tied up the match. Then Naas powered on. Kevin Cummins scored in between a brace of points from Paul McDermott, and after Stephen Kelly responded with a free for Sallins in the 26th minute, Lee Kennedy would once again find himself palming the ball into the opposing net. He would complete his hat-trick moments after Kevin Cummins’s free in added-time, as he slotted his shot past Ryan Herbert 1-on-1 to give Naas a 3-5 to 0-5 interval lead.

Goal number four came in the 41st minute when Kevin Cummins would palm the ball into the net to push Naas’s advantage into double digits. The visitor’s only goal meanwhile came four minutes later thanks to James Dalton, who slotted home after Stephen Kelly got his hands on a bouncing ball in the square. By then however, there was eight between them, as earlier efforts from Louis Grainger and Cian Grimes couldn’t whittle down the Naas lead, which by this time was sustained by points from Kevin Cummins and Tom Kelly.

After substitute Daniel Lenehan for Naas from play and Stephen Kelly for Sallins from a free would get on the scoresheet for their respective teams with a minute of normal time remaining, Kevin Cummins finished off the scoring for the hosts with two frees in added-time, one of which was a lovely two-pointer. It would be the visitors who would have the final say on the scoreboard however, as Paul Farrelly landed a superb two-pointer free and substitute Sam Ryan would score from play deep into added-time. It was too little too late though, as Naas gleefully took the two points on offer.

Naas: David Morrissey; Cathal Daly, Mark Maguire, Conor McCarthy; Tim Ryan, Eoghan Prizeman, Jamie McGuirk; Paul McDermott 0-2, Brian Stynes; Tom Kelly 0-1, Kevin Cummins 1-7 (0-3frees, 1two-pointer), Elliot Beirne 0-1; Lee Kennedy 3-0, Sean Hanifin, Drew Costello. Substitutes: Daniel Lenehan 0-1 for Jamie McGuirk (41), Colm Joyce for Drew Costello (43), Conor Breen for Lee Kennedy and Dallan Gallagher for Elliot Beirne (59), Nicholas Sweeney for Brian Stynes (60).

Sallins: Ryan Herbert; Ruairi O’Domhnaill, Mark Moynihan, Sean Egan; Sean O’Domhnaill, Paul Farrelly 0-2 (1two-pointer free), Louis Grainger 0-1; Daragh Mangan, Emmet Ralph; Rory Gavin, Alan Marshall, Cian Grimes 0-5 (0-2 frees, 0-1’45, 1two-pointer); Stephen Kelly 0-3 (0-2frees), Ross Waters, James Dalton 1-1. Substitutes: Sam Ryan 0-1 for Sean O’Domhnaill (half-time), Jamie Cox for Ross Waters (42), Conor Dalton for Louis Grainger (45), Sean Conway for Alan Marshall (55).

Referee: Frank Delaney.