No stopping Naas!
Naas proved too good for Maynooth in the final of the Westgrove Senior Hurling League Division 1 final Photo: Sean Brilly
Take nothing away from aas hurlers. This was another awesome display from the county champions as they put last year’s county final opponents Maynooth to the sword to regain the Westgrove Hotel Senior Hurling League after a one-year gap at Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Saturday.
When Maynooth strode purposefully into a five-point to no score lead within as many minutes, you hoped and prayed that the Ollie Baker managed side were signalling an increase in the competitiveness of the upcoming Kildare championship, which Naas have won seven times on the trot.
Maynooth led 0-6 to 0-1 after eight minutes but a couple of crucial mistakes, the first from a short puck-out from goalkeeper Cillian Madden and the second from a rare fumble out the field by Cathal McCabe over the next four minutes delivered goals for Naas for Fionn Maher and Jack Sheridan. Naas never really looked back from that point.
James Burke drilled a third goal before half-time with the county town men going in 3-9 to 0-9 ahead and an awesome display of shooting after the interval that included one remarkable spell of little under three minutes that produced no fewer than six points kept the scoreboard operator working overtime.
That score rush came after a fourth goal, created by one Sheridan brother, Jack, and finished by the other, Charlie, in the 42nd minute, had knocked any hope of a Maynooth comeback on the head, despite the excellent sharpshooting of their corner forward Martin Quilty and a couple of classy McCabe points before the county star had to depart thanks to a knee injury he’d picked up on the hard ground in the first half.
Ominously, you could reel off a list of at least seven Naas players who were unavailable for this rout, with the likes of Brian Byrne, Simon Leacy, Cian Boran and Daire Guerin prominent on that list, while they lost Cathal Dowling to injury after only ten minutes here.
The addition of county footballer Darragh Kirwan has been an interesting move, and he showed a natural aptitude for the small ball game with a couple of fine high catches and two excellent points in the opening half, though he was relatively quiet despite the one-way traffic after the interval.
Maynooth’s flying start saw Kevin Dunne get them on the board inside the opening minute with Tom Power, Quilty, Ciaran Dunne and Luke Murnane adding further points before Rian Boran came forward from full-back to open the Naas account.
Quilty hit back once more for a confident Maynooth but points from Kirwan and Kevin Whelan, a piledriver from his own half, eased Naas into it and when Madden’s short puck-out fell to Dowling’s replacement Oisín O’Neill he fed Maher to bury the chance to the net. The ‘keeper had another wobble when dropping a Rian Boran high ball but recovered well.
But after Peter O’Donoghue had edged Naas ahead 1-4 to 0-6, McCabe’s fumble allowed the two Sheridans to combine with Jack batting to the net for goal number two on twelve minutes.
Points from Jack Sheridan and Kirwan made it 2-6 to 0-6 before the lively Quilty ended a twelve-minute scoreless spell for Maynooth but three placed balls from Sheridan and Burke’s goal, driven low to the corner after the impressive O’Neill had set him up on 25 minutes, meant Power’s couple of frees before the interval were barely keeping the men in black in touch. Half-time: Naas 3-9 Maynooth 0-9.
The opening to the second half meandered somewhat aimlessly with the sides sharing ten points evenly, a couple of wayward frees from the normally accurate Power not helping Maynooth attempts to narrow the gap.
Charlie Sheridan opened the half in lively fashion after failing to get on the scoreboard in the opening period and brother Jack was the provider for his goal on 42 minutes that essentially killed the game stone dead as a contest.
They outscored their opponents nine points to two between the 43rd and 51st minutes, with midfielder Conan Boran coming to the fore with three second half points and corner back Richy Hogan getting forward to raise a rare white flag while substitute Michael Purcell got in on the act with two points late on. It was an awesome display of power and finesse from the Naas men.
Referee Niall Colgan clearly decided to put Maynooth out of their misery with only twenty seconds of injury time played, and few in attendance would have argued with him at that point.
Seán Burke; Richy Hogan 0-1, Rian Boran 0-1, Ross Kelly; Darrach Mac Donncha, Daire Guerin, Kevin Whelan 0-1; Conan Boran 0-3, Peter O’Donoghue 0-2; Jack Sheridan 1-8 (0-6fs,0-2’65s), James Burke 1-2, Darragh Kirwan 0-2; Charlie Sheridan 1-4, Cathal Dowling, Fionn Maher 1-1. Subs: John McKeon for Kelly (temp 1-7), Oisín O’Neill 0-1 for Dowling 10, Rossa Stapleton for Mac Donncha 39, McKeon for Kelly 46, Michael Purcell 0-2 for Whelan 49, Liam Walsh for Maher 53.
Cillian Madden; Matthew Eustace, Kevin Carroll, Joseph McNulty; Cian Forde, Dan O’Meara, Cian Brody; Ronan Dunne, Luke Murnane 0-2; Ciaran Dunne 0-2, Cathal McCabe 0-2, Harry Dunne; Tom Power 0-6 (5fs), Kevin Dunne 0-1, Martin Quilty 0-6. Subs: Ciaran Gorman 0-1 for K Dunne 40, Joseph Millett for McCabe 42, Conall Knox for Brody 53, Kevin McNeill for H Dunne 55, Kallum Gilligan for McNulty 58.
Niall Colgan.
