Kildare's Sheridan strikes at the third attempt

It took until the third attempt but Jack Sheridan finally got the better of Cathal Dunne in his personal battle with the Laois goalkeeper.

Sheridan denied a goal early in the second half by one of the best saves seen at Croke Park this year, or perhaps any year, and his second shot of the second half led to Jack Travers scoring Kildare’s first goal on the rebound.

But his perseverance paid off in the end when he found the bottom left hand corner of the Laois net in the 66th minute.

Speaking first about Dunne’s magnificent save shortly after Laois had scored down the far end, Sheridan had nothing but praise for the netminder.

“Fair play to him. I don’t know how he got to it. When I picked it up and threw it up to strike he was lying on the ground and by the time I struck it he was back and kept it out in the end, but I was delighted to get the goal in the end. I can’t remember the goal, whether it was a block when Laois were coming out of defence or whether it was an attack but I just seen green grass in front and I knew there was an opportunity for a goal,” said Sheridan.

It was his goal that sealed the effort but it was the earlier effort by Travers that really turned the game in Kildare’s favour.

“Jack was only on the pitch 30 seconds when he got the goal, what a first touch in an All-Ireland final. The momentum kind of swung then,” said Sheridan.

The game was won for Kildare with the second half display but Sheridan felt the the first half had set things up nicely for them. Kildare hadn't hurled to their best and yet, were still level at the break.

"We were quite happy going in at half time. We were sitting in there in the dressing room saying that we were level and yet hadn’t pucked a ball to ourselves yet. We knew Laois were heading for being out on their feet, we hadn’t done a tap so we knew we had a massive second half in us," he said. 

As one of the long standing members of the team, Sheridan has seen plenty of ups and downs and now as team stand on the cusp of competing in the Liam McCarthy Cup competition, he has memories of less glamorous days.

“I was saying to Gerry Keegan inside, we went to play Roscommon on Athleague in the first round of the Christy Ring Cup in 2019 and lost by three points and that put us on the back foot straight away. Here we are, however many years later and looking forward to playing in the Liam McCarthy, it’s just unbelievable,” he said.

The first of those Liam McCarthy Cup games will be against Dublin on Saturday evening in Newbridge but before the focus turns to that, and the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship next year, they will rightfully celebrate this monumental achievement.

“We’ll worry about Dublin on Tuesday or Wednesday but we’re definitely going to enjoy this one. It’s been a long time coming, Kildare being in the Liam McCarthy from the getgo next season, it’s unbelievable. We’re going to enjoy this,” said Sherdian.