Kirwan kicks dramatic winning point as Naas seal four-in-a-row
Naas captain Eoin Doyle lifts the Dermot Bourke Cup in the new Cedral St Conelths Park Photo: ©INPHO/James Lawlor
Darragh Kirwan kicked a brilliant 60th minute point as Naas marked the official opening of the newly refurbished Cedral St Conleths Park with their fourth successive Kildare title but it’s a game that will leave Celbridge will plenty of regrets.
Davy Hughes had just put Celbridge into the lead in the 50th minute when Paddy Brophy, barely on the field after being introduced in place of Aaron Browne, lashed out at Eoin Doyle and was sent off.
After that, Alex Beirne hit an equalising score before man of the match Kirwan came up with a wonderful match winning score.
In front of the watching GAA President Jarlath Burns, and a number of other dignitaries present for the official opening of the ground, Celbridge made a fine start to the game but couldn’t convert their early possession into scores.
They pinned Naas into their own 45 in the opening five minutes and had four shots before the champions even left their half but in difficult conditions could only register three shots dropped short and a wide.
They were made to rue those missed chances when Naas got a magnificent opening score. Celbridge squandered possession in the centre of the field in the eighth minute but there was still lots for Dermot Hanafin to do after he gathered the ball. As he charged forward, the Celbridge defenders were attracted to Kirwan expecting the pass to go to the Naas sharpshooter but that just created space for Hanafin and on and on he went before firing low past Shane McNamara.
It took until the 16th minute for Killian Browne to open the Celbridge account and that was quickly followed by a score from Fergal Conway.
Apart from that Hanafin goal, Naas were slow to find their attacking groove but once Kirwan fired over their first in the 19th minute, two more points were tagged on in quick succession.
Although the first half generally lacked the quality that might be expected of these two top class teams, there were flashes of class and Celbridge finished off the half with two good points, from Tony Archbold and Killian Browne, leaving two between the sides at the break, 1-3 to 0-4.
Celbridge took the lead for the first time in the 37th minute when Archbold teed up a chance for Hugh McGrillen and the oldest man on the field palmed the ball into the net to spark the game into life.
Kirwan pointed either side of a 45 metre free by Shane McNamara but the drama was to mount in the final ten minutes.
Hughes was fresh off the bench when he converted a difficult free to push Celbridge ahead once again before Brophy’s moment of madness.
It was to prove costly as Beirne levelled before Kirwan kicked a brilliant winning point from a difficult angle on the right.
It means a first four-in-a-row in Kildare football since the early 1900s and Naas continue to set a standard that the rest in the county are struggling to match and even more worryingly for the rest, they seem to have mastered the art of winning when even not quite at their best.
It sets them up nicely for a Leinster Championship quarter-final at home to Dublin champions Cuala on Saturday 9 November in the first game under the new floodlights at Cedral St Conleths Park in an occasion that promises much.
Luke Mullins; Cathal Daly, Conor McCarthy, Robert Fitzgerald, Brian Byrne, Eoin Doyle, Eoin Lawlor; Ryan Sinkey, Paul McDermott; Alex Beirne 0-1f, Tom Browne, Paddy McDermott, Darragh Kirwan 0-5 (1f), Dermot Hanafin 1-0, Neil Aherne 0-1. Subs: Paul McDermott for Beirne, b/s 11-15; Cathal Daly for Fitzgerald, 49; Paul McDermott for Sinkey, 50; Kevin Cummins for Aherne, 55; Sean Hanafin for Browne, 60.
Shane McNamara 0-1f; John Clarke, Cian Powell, Mick Konstantin, Dean O’Donoghue, Fergal Conway 0-1, Liam O’Flynn; Hugh McGrillen 1-0, Mick O’Grady; Niall O’Regan, Kevin O’Callaghan, Tony Archbold 0-1, Paddy Brophy, Aaron Browne, Killian Browne 0-2. Sub: Davy Hughes for Flynn, 46; Paddy Brophy for A Browne, 50.
Brendan Cawley.
